


[COMPLETE] The Strange Case of Dr. Romana and Mz. Coyle

by MeltyMetroid



Series: Championship of the Ribbonissa [5]
Category: ARMS (Video Game)
Genre: Dr. Coyle origin story, Gen, filled with headcanons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-08-28 15:17:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16725882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeltyMetroid/pseuds/MeltyMetroid
Summary: Dr. Tessa Romana has finally discovered a way to give herself ARMS! But the process has a very peculiar side effect...It’s a Dr. Coyle origin story with a healthy dash of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde!





	1. Project COYLE

**Author's Note:**

> This is a standalone fic that acts as an origin story for Dr. Coyle and a prequel to my other ARMS stories. Events from this story have already been alluded to in both Snatched by the Seekies and Broken Glass, but you don't need to have read any previous fic to understand this one!
> 
> Updating Wednesdays and Saturdays again, just like Broken Glass. Can't promise I'll always do updates twice a week for future fics, but I'd rather have this one fully uploaded before Christmas!
> 
> Enjoyyyy~

_ My name is Doctor Tessa Romana. I trained as a doctor of medicine and a doctor of biological science, achieving PHDs in both fields, as well as a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and computer study. I now reside as the head of the ARMS Laboratories and Associated Divisions Institution of ARMS-Related Studies - commonly known for short as simple the ‘ARMS Lab’. _

The blonde scientist sat hunched over the nearby desk as she logged into the journal in front of her in elegant handwriting.

_ I am reiterating this as this will be the final update provided to this journal before I undertake the Project COYLE program procedure. I have found in the past that many parties seem to skip straight to before and after entries, rather than reading along through the full process. It has, however, been a rather lengthy project that will hopefully result in a very notable outcome. As such, I cannot rightly blame you for skipping to the before and after entries for this particular project - I would be tempted to do the same myself. _

She tucked the long side of her hair back behind her ear, as the way it got in her line of vision began to annoy her.

_ So, to continue reiterating in more short-form language, I am the head of the ARMS Lab and I partake in many of the research experiments we perform here. My work has proven invaluable over the years, and yet my role as head of the Laboratories has been called into question numerous times, typically for one particular reason: I do not possess ARMS. _

_ The ARMS ability awakens unpredictably. For some people it happens at age 12. For others it happens at age 80. But I am now 34 years of age and tired of waiting for nature to take its course. I am the world’s most renowned scientist when it comes to ARMS - and so today I will use that to force my ARMS ability to awaken. To do so would be a monumental achievement and forever change how we see the process of ARMS awakening. And that is my goal for today. _

Romana, for the record, was near enough your typical idea of what a woman who dedicated her life to science would look like. She was rather thin and dainty, dressed in a long white lab coat over a deep violet turtleneck. Her caring green eyes were shielded by large circular glasses, and while her hair at the front had a habit of obscuring half her vision the back of her hair was neatly died away in a complex ponytail of sorts, free from interfering with her work.

_ I should say that I am working alone on this endeavour. Not even my staff are aware of what I am about to attempt. _

The lack of ARMS was, admittedly, rather embarrassing. It wasn’t just outsiders who scoffed at her for getting the role as the head of the ARMS Lab despite not even having ARMS herself - it was clear her underlings didn’t respect her quite as much as they should. Though part of that issue stemmed from her simply being too soft on them - she had issues with being dominant and boss-like, and that certainly didn’t work in her favour.

She pined for ARMS  _ badly _ . Maybe then she’d have respect. Maybe then she’d be listened to. She was sick of hiding her arms in sleeves and gloves, even around the Lab. What she needed was a pair of incredible, flashy, and unique ARMS that no one could ignore. How she longed for that.

Naturally, she wasn’t about to write down the  _ real _ reason she wanted to perform this experiment. A scientific journal was no place to cry about having no ARMS - that’d just be pathetic, after all. So she would cover her tracks with talk about scientific endeavors and changing what it means to awaken with ARMS, and pin the blame of her lone wolf nature here on, well, the one thing that’d make the most sense to...

_ I apologize to my team for keeping you all from this. But the budget simply does not have room for a full-scale team effort on such a risky project. I understand it is selfish of me to take from the budget at all for this in the first place, especially given our current financial issues. I hope I will have your forgiveness, and that it will not be for nothing. _

The ARMS Lab at this point had very little money. Funding was low enough as it was, but the amount of money going into business expenses like insurances, lab maintenance, and security was  _ absurd _ . I mean, it wasn’t really unavoidable, right? She couldn’t exactly put  _ everything _ into ARMS research. That just wasn’t rational.

_ I do not pretend, of course, that I am certain the process I have been preparing to undergo (see previous entries for details) will go perfectly. I have engineered the most safe and hopefully successful situation that I could manage, but one wrong move could very well cut off a great deal of my brain functionality or leave me comatosed. Even if I do succeed I may very well suffer harsh side effects - I cannot say for certain how this experiment will go and I strongly wish for luck to be on my side. _

She looked to her side where a beaker bubbled on a small hotplate. A nearby timer continued to tick down, with at least two full minutes remaining.

_ Before I end things off I figure it’d be worthwhile, as this is a recap, to explain the reasoning behind the name ‘Project COYLE’. The name came simply from the hope that the process I will be undertaking will uncoiling my arms into ARMS, which I’m sure is something you could figure pretty easily. However, ARMS Lab rules state that no two projects can have the same name, and a research experiment four years ago that looked into the various ways ARMS coil when retracted has already taken the name ‘Project COIL’. As such, I’ve decided on a play-on-words variation of said title and have chosen the name ‘Project COYLE’ instead. You could argue, I suppose, that my reluctance to tell my staff members about this project (again, due to budget reasons) is something of a coy move on my part. Ha ha ha. _

Her pretty pink lips curved into something of a soft smile as she flicked her eyes back to the countdown. Not long to go, now.

_ It’s time for me to undergo the procedure. Refer to the related tape recording, the ID of which will be written below shortly. _

_ Wish me luck. _

_ \- Dr. Tessa Romana _

Romana put her pen down and grabbed a nearby tape recorder instead. She flicked the button down with her thumb and the tape began to spin. “This is doctor Romana of the ARMS Lab.” She began kinda weakly, before clearing her throat. “This is my recording for undergoing the process of Project COYLE.”

The counter nearby began to ding and her face turned worried. She really wasn’t looking forward to this part.

She silenced the timer and picked up the beaker that held the bubbling mixture of black speckled sludge. “I am now taking the solution I have prepared to prepare me biologically for the process.” She vocalized into the recorder as she brought the beaker to her lips. She scrunched her face in disgust before tipping the mixture down her throat. It took a while to finish off the entire mixture, given it slipped out of the bottle at a slow pace akin to molasses.

Her eyes watered as she used every last shred of her self control to keep the beaker to her lips. The mixture was absolutely  _ revolting _ . It was indescribably hard to stomach, but she  _ needed _ to intake it properly for her process to play out safely, so she soldiered on.

She dropped the beaker back onto the desk as she gave her last gulp, tears streamed down her face, her nose running a little. “I-I’ve taken the solution.” She updated to the tape recorder, gagging a little. “I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, it was  _ very _ unpleasant.” A small sniffle. “But it should coerce my body into energizing my ARMS Genes more, as well as help keep me awake during the process itself.”

With a sigh she brushed her tears away using her sleeve. She had a short moment now to further prepare while the solution took its time to kick into effect. She took the opportunity to give a quick look-over to her checklist again, just to be sure she had everything.

While everything on the list was accounted for, it did suddenly occur to her now that she  _ was _ missing something. She quickly head over to her casual-wear cardigan, which she had put up on the coat hook when she exchanged it for the lab coat. A brief rummage in the pocket produced a small golden locket, which she opened for another quick look.

The left ‘door’ of the locket was a photograph of her parents. She was a young woman when they died - first her mother, and then her father a few short months after. He had gone his whole life without ARMS, while she had had hers practically since birth. Romana never knew which one she’d take after, but with today’s events it looked like she’d follow neither. She’d be something new all together. How about that?

In the right ‘door’, embarrassingly, was a photo of herself with the ARMS League champion - Max Brass, ‘The Commish’! He was beefy, charismatic, and had a clear love for ARMS. What a man! And if that wasn’t enough already, he frequently came to visit the ARMS Lab to tell everyone what a great job they all did. He’d take great interest in their on-going projects and even insist on making the tea for everyone. And Romana? She had a  _ major _ crush on him. It was evident enough in the locket’s photo - the whole ARMS Lab gathered together with the champion, with her, as head of the Lab, right beside him. With one  _ hell _ of a goofy expression on her face. She was beside  _ Max Brass _ , after all! What a day that was.

With a soft smile she closed the locket and put its golden thread around her neck. Call it a good luck charm, yeah?

Okay, it’s was time. She headed over to the corner of the room and set another timer going - this one for ten minutes. The procedure itself shouldn’t last that long, and if all goes well she can shut the timer off after and take some time to enjoy her new ARMS. But if something went wrong? Well, that’s where the timer would come in. If it reached zero with no interruptions it would give an emergency notification to her underlings and unlock the door to the lab room she was using - Lab C-06. They’d have an opportunity to save her if she needed it - the sooner someone could be there to help, the better. Though that  _ would _ be pretty embarrassing, so hopefully it’s just a safety measure that would never need to come to fruition.

She grabbed the ice pick from the desk and sat herself down on the shining silver operating table she had cleared for herself, removing her large round glasses and putting them to one side. “Okay, I’m about to begin.” She voiced into the tape recorder as she set it down beside her. She could feel her heart pumping in her chest. “I apologize if I go quiet, I’ll try to voice what I can.”

She began.

“O-Okay, this is pretty scary and I’m not feeling  _ immensely _ confident here, but I’ll soldier on.”

She tried to control her breathing as best she could, but it really wasn’t easy.

“N-N-Nothing hurts just yet but I-”

She screamed intensely, overcome with immeasurable pain.

“ _ Ohgod ohgod ohgod ohgod ohgod- _ ” She stammered quickly numerous times.

She moved her left hand to steady the other.  _ Come on, Romana _ . She thought to herself.  _ F-Focus... _

Something clicked and from that point out, all memory of what happened next was entirely gone.

Romana awoke on the floor of her lab, surrounded by scatterings of broken glass and various lab tools. Her head pounded like a migraine, but each thump got lighter and lighter as it faded away kinda quickly. “Hhhhnnnnn...” She groaned, a harsh ache very noticeable in the top of her skull’s left eye opening.

What was she doing on the floor...? Did she fall? But she’s all the way in the corner here, and that ice pick... She turned to face the operating table and, yeah, could make out the handle laying atop it. Well, at least she didn’t fall while it was-  _ Oh shoot, the timer! _

She gave a short gasp as she remembered. She seemed to be alright, after all - better not to bring the whole crew in here. It probably doesn’t have long left, so she should switch it off before- ... Oh. It’s already off? Huh.

The timer was left at 06:12. Seems the whole process didn’t take that long at all, then. And she was still fine enough following it to switch the timer off? But then why doesn’t she remember any of that?

That migraine was gone now, thankfully, but that aching by her eye was really killer. She put her hand up to her eye to put some pressure on it, but had to jump a little and just how cold her hand w-  _ Oh my god, she has ARMS?! _

A big grin jumped on her face and she sprung to her feet, a little wobbly still but too excited to care. “OHMYGOD!!” She cheered, looking them over. They were made of a thick golden metal - not unlike the locket she wore. They caught the light so beautifully and were  _ impossible _ to ignore,  _ god _ what a result! I mean, the lab coat she was wearing kinda had its sleeves ripped to pieces in the process, but  _ who cares! _ Small price to pay, all things considered.

She ran the fingers of one golden hand over the overlapping folds of the other’s wrist, taking her fingers further up her ARM as she went. They’re  _ so _ pretty! And unique! What a-  _ Yiiikes, what the hell is with these shoulders? _

She thumped her hand around the massive spherical shoulders that connected her to her ARMS. Kinda odd, admittedly. She wasn’t even sure she’d seen this before - it certainly wasn’t common, at least. Kinda made her look like that one sci-fi character she saw an advert for once. Hm.

But whatever! The important thing was that she had  _ ARMS! _ Big, incredible ARMS that-

Gah, why did she keep having to notice  _ weird details? _ Alright, so, why were they coiled up? She had only just awoken the ARMS ability, they should be sprawled out over the floor until she puts a mask on, and retracting them to a coiled state while unmasked shouldn’t happen until she’s had her mask on for at least two weeks. Don’t tell me these weren’t  _ real _ ARMS? Were they not  _ fully _ functional or something?

She grabbed the operating table for support and stood herself by it, looking at her reflection. She would just-  _ Ohhhh _ , okay, she was already wearing a mask! She must have put one on and forgotten about it. She even had her glasses back on over it. Hm. Ohh! And spirally eyes, too! Man, they’re so pretty~

This was all quite a bit to take in all at once like this. But those lapses in her memory were a little concerning... Maybe she should listen to that tape recorder.

She ran her eyes across the room. Uhhhh...

Okay, so the tape recorder wasn’t around anymore. Hm. Well, the room was a mess anyway so she’d probably find it when she goes to clean up a bit. Time to enjoy these new ARMS.

Romana took a deep breath and felt her ARMS begin to uncoil. She thought they looked beautiful retracted, but  _ this? _ Ohhh,  _ man! _ They spun around a central deep bronze tubing, straight from the shoulder to the wrist.  _ Gorgeous! _

She took a swing forward, just to feel them punch.  _ So satisfying! _ And then another.  _ That’s incredible! _ It felt so effortless and natural. She’s probably last no longer than half a minute on a punching bag until her arms just couldn’t swing anymore, but  _ this? _ She could do this for hours! The joy of ARMS really is palpable.

An empty beaker across the room fell the floor with a smash.  _ Whoops. _ Maybe she shouldn’t be swinging around in here... I guess that does explain the mess from before, though. She must have been doing the same thing when she’d come straight from the experiment’s conclusion. Still, why did she pass out a couple moments after that...? And it brought a form of short-term amnesia with it, too. Would that be a side effect from the process...? If it happens again, well, that’s certainly a concerning repercussion. But she did  _ feel _ alright - at least for the moment, anyway. 

At any rate - no more messing around! It’s time to tell the others. She coiled her ARMS back up into neat golden sleeves and reached for the door handle.

...Ah, wait, no. One more thing first: she should update that journal she was keeping.

She sat back at her desk and picked up the pen. Would it feel any different to write with ARMS hands? Hm. Well now would be the time to find-

...Huh?

The page she had left it on was already filled out. Did she do this before she wound up on the floor? But this doesn’t look anything like her handwriting...

_ Project COYLE was one  _ _ hell _ _ of a success. These gorgeous golden ARMS are beyond stunning, and they feel more natural than I could ever have imagined! And as if that wasn’t enough, it seems something  _ _ else _ _ has awoken inside me. _

She squinted at the messily scratched words on the page. This didn’t  _ sound _ like her, but it  _ was  _ speaking from her perspective. Did she let her passion get to her? Was she  _ that _ excited over her success? The handwriting didn’t match either, but maybe that could be chalked up to haste - and possibly dizziness - from the process’s completion.

She traced her golden finger over that last line. ‘ _ Something  _ _ else _ _ has awoken inside me.’  _ What does that mean...? She had underlined ‘else’ a couple times. Does that mean she had some sort of innate ability she didn’t know about...? There were various cases of healing abilities awakening in people across the world, and many cases for floating abilities too. Some could poof in a cloud of smoke - a staple of ninja college students, typically - and some could have improved flexibility. Hell, even Brass had that beef-up charge he could do. Abilities unrelated to ARMS certainly weren’t uncommon. But did  _ she _ have one? Hm.

Her past self continued their scratchings down the page, though things only seemed to get  _ more _ confusing as it went.

_ No more nice girl. The beast is out of her cage now. It’s like I’m made of adrenaline and spite! Nothing will get in my way.  _ **_Nothing_ ** _. _

That last word there was scratched deeper and thicker than the rest, then underlined, then circled several times. Her passion really  _ did _ get to her.

But the part that confused her most of all was how she had signed off.

_ \- Mz. Coyle _


	2. Pass Out

...What? That’s  _ not _ her name. Did she confuse her own name for the project’s name? Just how dizzy  _ was _ she? And pedantic though it may be, she wanted to insist  _ clearly _ that she was not ‘Mz.’ anything. She had worked hard for her doctorates and that should be clearly reflected in her name -  _ Dr. _ Romana.

Well, whatever. She’d leave these embarrassing scratchings for now and rewrite her entry later. It’s time to break the news to the others!

She closed the lab door behind her and headed over to the office area, where her various employees were sat around looking bored at computer screens. Yeah, it wasn’t always researching and experimenting. What kind of lab could work like that? Besides, it’s not like they’d have the budget for it.

The desks faced the opposite wall of the room, where a door lead to her own office. Sat at the back of the room, and the closest to the door frame she was coming to, was Professor Ian Marrow, a late-twenties young man with messy hair and a difficult attitude. If she could bring herself to do so without feeling pathetic, Romana would probably describe him as a bully. It was worth noting, for the record, that Marrow had a pair of notable white leather ARMS which he had first woken up with about a decade ago - something he had a habit of bringing up when Romana was around.

She came to stand in the doorway, making her presence known. A bit of a nervous feeling built up at the back of her throat, and she hoped it wouldn’t be noticed as she caught to attention of the few desks before her. “Good afternoon, everyone.” She said nonchalantly, as if it were a typical wednesday afternoon.

Marrow was the first to turn around to her. “Yo, Tess, I need you to-” He cut off pretty quickly. It was hard not to notice her new shoulders, after all. “Ohhhh  _ damnnnn! _ ” He grinned, causing several nearby heads to turn all the same. “Yo, Tess has ARMS now!”

“That’s amazing!” Came a soft voice from the desk beside Marrow’s. “And they’re so pretty, too!” Professor Barbara Chew, a dainty young woman who was a bit quiet but ultimately a real sweetheart. She was similar to Romana in some ways - neither of them were all that assertive, for example. But Chew’s issue was that she  _ really _ wasn’t a good scientist, frequently making mistakes or just simply not doing work. It was hard to voice your disappointment in her with the sad face she’d make, and for some reason she was liked a lot more around the office than Romana was - leading many of the others, like Marrow, to stick up for her. Chew also had ARMS, by the way. Silky red ones - nothing  _ too _ special, but quite a nice pair all the same.

A few more comments came from across the room, all generally along the lines of “Huh, neat.” or “Finally!”. Romana did her best not to blush - it had been a long time since she had any compliments sent her way. They usually just came from Brass, who was probably just being polite.

“It’s nothing too crazy, settle down.” She urged through a smile that was hard to hide.

“But y’didn’t walk in this morning like that, did ya?” Marrow raised an eyebrow, leaning back on his chair with his legs up on the desk, neck turned to Romana.

“Uhhh, no...”

“Knew it.” He smirked, turning back to the others. “What I tell ya, eh? She sneaks lil naps in every few hours to see if she wakes up with ARMS!”

A laugh came from around the room, which felt a little embarrassing to Romana. “N-No, I just happened to be a little worn out from my research today.” She insisted, deciding not to tell them  _ just _ yet that she had  _ given herself _ ARMS. What was the harm in keeping it a secret for just a little longer? They’d only make more stinging comments, after all.

“Anyways.” Marrow shrugged off “I’ve ordered us that Deadlock Security package, which is coming in about three days, so you’re gonna have to be here in the morning to sign for-”

“Woah woah waoh, wait.” Romana interrupted. “No no no, I told you  _ not _ to order that!”

Marrow dramatically sighed, rolling his eyes. “We’ve been overrrr this, Tess. We gotta up the security or all our stuff is gettin’ jacked.”

“That security package is  _ expensive _ .” She insisted. “We can’t afford it in the budget and still have room for proper testing!”

“Then we’ll scale back some of our projects, jeez.”

“Even more than we already have? You  _ know  _ how I feel about that.” She felt  _ so _ fed up. “We  _ talked _ about this and I told you  _ not _ to get that system.”

“And I decided that we  _ needed  _ it!” He shrugged. “Did you know that van was back last night? Caught ‘em on the cameras ‘round two in the morning, just kinda scoping out the place.”

“It’s nothing.” She mumbled.

“It’s  _ not _ nothing, Tess.” He sighed again. “You wanna be workin’ here overtime when those guys try for it? This isn’t some candy shop, they’re gonna come in here  _ prepared _ . Your flash new ARMS ain’t gonna help much if they’ve got guns.”

“I agree that security is important!” She sighed back. “I just think we should be building our  _ own _ security system instead of paying for some consumer thing! Aren’t we supposed to be a development lab?”

“Look, I ain’t havin’ this conversation again.” He replied bluntly, turning back to his desk. “New cameras. New alarm systems. New door and window reinforcements. Be there at six AM to sign for it.”

She glared at the back of his head.  _ Cancel that security system. _ She ordered him silently in her head.  **_You_ ** _ don’t make the rules,  _ **_I_ ** _ make the rules. _ The back of her neck tingled a bit. Gahhh! If only she weren’t such a wimp.

She sighed defeatedly. The idea of being here by six didn’t seem much appealing at all - and certainly not for some expensive and  _ unnecessary _ security system she didn’t give the go-ahead for - but somehow he probably wasn’t going to agree to do the signing himself. But maybe it was still worth a shot...?

“Fine.” She muttered. “But then  _ you _ be here to sign for it.”

“No can do, Tess.” He replied casually. “I’m off that day.”

“Off...?”

“Yeah, I’m taking a day off.” He turned back to the face her. “I’ve been here like  _ daily _ this whole month.” For the record, it was now the  _ sixth _ of this particular month. Romana herself had been working nonstop since the second of the  _ previous _ month. “So I’mma take like two or three days to just chill out a bit and do some gamin’.”

**_No,_ ** _ you  _ **_aren’t_ ** _. _ Her thoughts shouted.  _ You can’t just take time off whenever you want. You can’t just ditch us all when we’re already understaffed and behind on work. You can’t just- _ That tingling in her neck was back now, but it was really beginning to sting. She put her hand to it and grimaced a little.

“Are you alright, Tessa?” Professor Chew asked sweetly from her desk.

“Y-Yeah, my neck just hurts a bit.” She rubbed it, despite how cold the metal was against her neck. The tingling began to fade away a bit. “Okay, yeah, whatever... Take some time off if you need it.”

“Can do~” Marrow smirked, turning back to his desk.

She began to walk across the room to her office, before turning again to quickly address the room. “Oh! And, uh, I’ve still got some cleaning up to do in Lab C-6. I’ll take care of it, so just leave it as it is...”

She entered the code into the lock beside her office - 2307. As always, the light flicked to green and the tumblers rolled open. Her office was small and cluttered, but pretty tidy and organized all the same. She shut the door behind her and let out a relaxed sigh. God, what a day. It’s a shame the others didn’t seem to care much about her new ARMS, given how much teasing they gave her for the lack of them in the past. But the important thing is that she  _ has _ new ARMS! And nothing could get in the way of  _ that! _

The remainder of the day progressed as work days usually did. ARMS or not, she still had paperwork to do. She had to find a way to fit the Deadlock Security system into the budget, too. Maybe if they lowered the project man power again... Ugh. Only  _ two _ people assigned to each project, now? Hardly a team effort. 

As the day drew to a close and the rest of the staff left, as usual, much earlier than their timesheets would later state, Romana returned to Lab C-6 to clean up the mess she had made earlier. Picking up the shards of broken lab equipment was  _ so _ much easier with ARMS, by the way. She didn’t get any cuts or scratches or  _ anything! _ How did she ever manage without?

That tape recorder from before was still missing, though. She cleared up the entire room but it still just didn’t show up. How odd.

But whatever. It had been a long day and she could feel her bed calling her from across the city. She closed up behind her and ensured all the Lab entries were locked securely - that black van that had been appearing frequently  _ was _ a bit concerning, after all - and then made her way to her car.

Keys in the ignition, feet on the pedals, shut the door, secure the seat belt...  _ Hnnn. _ She put her hand back on her neck. That tingling back back again, full force. What was causing that? Should she be driving when this happens? That probably isn’t much safe. Thank god she hadn’t turned the key yet.

It was getting stronger now, and really starting to sting. She clenched her hand on the back of her neck and tried to fight back against it, beginning to feel the stinging pulse throughout her entire body, growing more and more in intensity and- Wait, is that... Why can she suddenly hear laughing?

She gasped hard, springing up suddenly from her sofa. Huh...? She was home already? But... How? She turned her neck to the window, only to find it was pitch black outside. She couldn’t remember anything since the moment she got in her car, though. What gives?

Wait, no, hold on... Was all of that a dream?? Everything before and up to the-  _ Oh, wait, no.  _ She still had ARMS.  _ Phew. _ Then, yeah, I guess she  _ did _ just forget everything again. That’s... Really concerning.

A soft meowing noise came from the small calico cat on her nearby dresser. She turned to look at it, before springing her eyes open suddenly. “Oh!! Toffee, I’m sorry!! You probably need feeding...”

She got back to her feet and head over to her small kitchen area, grabbing a can of cat food from the cabinet before reaching for Toffee’s-  _ Ah. _ Okay, no, she’d already fed her. Gah! Stupid memory loss. How was she supposed to know what she had and hadn’t done?

She put the cat food can back into the cabinet and looked over at the nearby dinner table. There was a shopping bag resting on it beside a used plate and an open notebook.

By the looks of the plate, it seems she had microwaved some sort of pre-packaged pasta with a creamy sauce. Fair enough, that’s not much wild for her, especially on a busy day when she doesn’t feel like cooking.

In the bag was-  _ Wait. _ She stopped before putting her hand into it. That book... That’s her experiment journal, isn’t it?

She flicked to the cover.  _ Yeah, that’s it. _ But... Why? She had left that back at the ARMS Lab - did she go back for it after getting into the car?

The page was adorned with scribbles of... A mask. Her face, very loosely depicted, with her lil hair overlap taken into account, in a mask similar to the one she was wearing but with a new potential design in each drawing.  _ Huh. _ I mean, few people are all that satisfied with the standard issue masks, but some of these are a bit... Well, not what  _ she _ would go for. At least, she’s pretty sure these weren’t the kind of thing she’d choose.

But either way:  _ really, _ past-Romana? You’re gonna design these in the experiment journal? First off, that’s embarrassing. It’s the kind of thing she’d done before when she’s bored, into a personal notepad beside her bed, but in her personal ARMS Lab experiment journal? Come on.

Okay, fine, what’s in the bag? ...Uh.  _ No. _ No, past-Romana. What on earth were you thinking?

Several boxes of green hair dye, some purple lipstick, and some thick studded earrings. What, does she not get made fun of  _ enough _ at work? Bright green hair isn’t going to help that. And she isn’t nearly dominating enough to pull off the lipstick of the earrings.

Whatever. This day was far too heavy, even if she’d forgotten a good chunk of it. She’s had some dinner and she’s fed Toffee, so she’d done her chores for the day - time to get some sleep.

She slipped into some pyjamas and got under her duvet. Man _ , _ what a day. She actually has ARMS now! That’s a childhood dream come true. Maybe it didn’t quite bring her the respect she’d hoped for  _ juuuust _ yet, but there was still time to work on that.

...Those blackouts, though. Those are a little concerning. If it happens again she’s gonna need to seriously look into it. Short-term amnesia wouldn’t be  _ too _ bad if it just meant she forgot what she got up to for the past little while, but it seems she makes some strange choices in that while. Hm.

Well, she’ll keep that in mind for tomorrow. She took her glasses off and put them on the nightstand, where a glass of water was prepared beside, somewhat embarrassingly, the same photo of her and Brass from the locket she wore. She blew a kiss to the cat bed in the corner of the room where Toffee was curled up and then did her best to get to sleep.

Which went decently well, actually! You’d think the shoulders would get in the way, but she found it a decently simple enough to get comfortable. How about that, eh?

The next morning came soon enough and she was feeling pretty well rested. She slipped her glasses on, got up, got dressed, and packed up her stuff for the day. She remembered well enough to take that experiment journal with her, too. It’ll be quite a pain to clean up all of those blackout-self’s ramblings and  _ doodles _ , but she sure wasn’t going to show it to anyone like this.

Into her car she went and off on the road she left. She spent the drive thinking about those ‘security worries’ the ARMS Lab were facing. A strange black van scoping out the area? Talks of ARMS Lab employees being followed by similar vans, as if getting and understanding for everyone’s schedules? Hm. Even she couldn’t deny that things  _ did _ seem pretty concerning. Not concerning quite enough for a stupidly expensive security system to be put into place, though. Why  _ shouldn’t _ they build their own?? It’s what they  _ did! _ Ugh.

She pulled into the parking lot of the ARMS Lab and observed the large sign on the side of the building that blatantly read  _ ARMS Laboratories and Associated Divisions Institution of ARMS-Related Studies _ . Come on, really? The least they could do is not advertise their location to the world. Stick the ARMS Lab HQ in some other, unsuspecting building’s basement. Can’t rob a place if you don’t even know where it is to begin with.

She got out of her car and shut the door behind her, before locking it with the button on her key. Well, another day another-

_ Gah. Again?! _ Her neck stung badly, like someone was scratching directly on her spinal cord with something rusty. It wasn’t long until it became unbearable - her eyes began to water and her legs wobbled as she clung both hands over her neck and-

Romana woke up on the operating table she had previously used to give herself ARMS. Was she trying to do something about that neck-pain she was randomly getting...? Once again, she simply couldn’t remember what she had been up to.

She leant up and took a look at the clock.  _ Huh? _ It was already half three...? That’s nearly the whole work day gone!

Around her were several scattered notebooks and mechanical parts, as well as...

She picked her glasses up. But... She had just looked at the time on the clock on the wall on the other side of the room? She usually wasn’t able to see that far without her glasses on...

Naturally, she slipped them back over her mask as she was used to.  _ Now _ everything was blurry.

...Did her blackout-self  _ fix her eyesight? _ But that’s just ridiculous! Even if it was half three already, that’s an extremely short time to prepare something like that.

She ditched her glasses aside and picked up a nearby notebook. To the bottom of a page was a lazily drawn diagram of an eye with a strange looking device shooting a laser into it. The accompanying writing was so small and badly scratched that she could barely read it.

She turned her head to her left and looked down at the table, where a strange hairdryer-like device lay.  _ Ah. _ That’s what what she had built, then. And it worked...?

But wait, what about all this other stuff? There’s weird chunks of metal and some heavier mechanical tools scattered about, what’s all that for?

The page only dedicated a small bit at the bottom to the eye-corrector, as if it was an afterthought. The rest of the page - and several of the other scattered pages around her - they were all dedicated to... Some sort of... Huh. What even  _ is _ that?

It looks kinda like a strange head or-  _ Gah! _

The pain seared stronger than ever and she didn’t have even a moment to try fighting it.

She awoke again about a half hour later, at least according to the clock on the wall. The room was now  _ spotless _ . All the bits of machinery had been tied away, as were the tools, and those notebook pages... Well, they were just entirely gone. The notebooks that  _ had _ held them had the pages torn out.

.................This is weird. This is very strange. Why would she do this in the time she knew she’d be forgetting? The least she could do would be leave herself a note.

This is getting a little out of hand. Bits and pieces here just aren’t adding up quite right. Maybe she’d understand more in her office or something - somewhere were a note could be left without the worry of other staff members entering and reading about her situation.

She got up and headed out of Lab C-6, right back through the office where the other staff members were. Everyone was at their desk working quietly as she entered and, to her surprise, no one stopped her with some random request or snide comment.

She punched in the code to her office - 2307 - and turned the handle.

...Uh. Why did the light go red?

She tried it again. Maybe, in her haste, she had just typed it wrong.  _ 2307 _ .

Red light.

Her heart began to pound in her chest as she got the feeling something was  _ really _ wrong here.

_ 2037. _

Red light.

She turned slowly to address the room.

“...Did anyone change the passcode to my door?” She wasn’t really sure how anyone would have done so, in honesty.

The room was deathly silent. No one seemed to want to look at her. It was only out of the corner of her eye that she saw Professor Marrow flick his vision to her for just a moment. He seemed startled when their eyes met, and he quickly turned away.

“...Marrow?”

She didn’t even need to repeat the question before she got a response. And for the first time in her career as head of the ARMS Lab, it wasn’t a snarky one. “N-No.” He seemed shaken. “I promise it had nothing to do with me, M-M...”

He heart sunk in her chest as he uncomfortably forced out his words.

“M-Mz. Coyle.”


	3. The Woman in the Journal

“...Why did you call me that?” Romana muttered, confused and a little unnerved.

Marrow looked back at her with an uncertain expression, rather worried. Nearby, Professor Chew turned her head to face her too, with a similar look of unease. Marrow gulped quietly and did his best to straighten his neck. “B-Because...” A bead of sweat dropped down his forehead, like he was walking on eggshells. “...Because you... Asked me to?”

Romana stared at him blankly. “...When?”

“This morning...?” His confusion was really taking hold of him now.

Romana flicked her eyes over to Chew, who’s head seemed to duck a bit to her shoulders. “Y-You did...”

“Why would I do that?” She mumbled, looking between the two. “It’s  _ Dr. Romana. _ It’s always been  _ Dr. Romana. _ ”

Marrow cleared his throat. “You didn’t... GIve a reason.”

“...And you just agreed to do it?” Perhaps what confused her the most was that  _ years _ of asking them to stop calling her by her first name yielded no results at all. But one ask and they accept a new name just fine?

Marrow didn’t respond. His eyes looked sunken.

Chew nervously played with the ends of her shirt. “W-We didn’t really want to question you a-after... Um...”

Romana was entirely lost here. “After what...?”

The two looked back at her like they couldn’t believe for a second she had forgotten what had happened. Similar looks were all around the lab, even though most employees kept their eyes firmly glued to their screens.

“Seriously, after  _ what? _ ” She insisted. She  _ needed _ to know.

Marrow sunk his head down, so it was up to Chew to answer with a deep breath. “Y-You asked-” She stammered a bit. “N-No, sorry, you  _ o-ordered _ the security system to be cancelled a-and then...”

Wait, she had gotten them to cancel it?  _ Score! _ Wait, whoops, now’s not the time to be thinking about that.

“A-And then he... Um...  _ Disagreed _ w-with your  _ order _ a-and you said something about how your ARMS weren’t just  _ for show _ ... A-And then you, u-um...” She looked away, fidgeting more with her shirt in her hands. “Y-You grabbed him by the neck...”

Romana’s face was as pale as a ghost. This sounded  _ nothing _ like her, but it was clear as crystal that Professor Chew wasn’t lying, and Marrow was acting far too meek for this all to be a joke.

The two both kept their eyes off of her, far too uncomfortable to continue talking about the matter.

Romana turned back to her office door and tried her code again.  _ 2307 _ . Damn, still nothing. With a deep inhale she turned back around and began to head down the room again. “I’ve got something to look into. Keep working.”

As she neared the end of the room a chorus of “Yes, Mz. Coyle.” echoed around in unison.  _ Yikes. _

She went straight back to Lab C-6. Why? She wasn’t sure. But with her office on lockdown, this was the only place she could think to go.

_ Okay, don’t panic.  _ She pleaded to herself internally. It would appear that from between getting a pain in her neck and waking up from a blackout, she isn’t  _ just _ active during that time but she’s... Different.  _ Really _ different. More aggressive and assertive, clearly. Like she-

...Like she was made of adrenaline and spite?

She turned quickly to the journal lying on the nearby desk - the same one she had been tracking Project COYLE in. That note at the end... The one signed ‘Mz. Coyle’....

She grabbed the journal and flicked it open, scrolling through the pages. That note had been filled in while she was in her blackout period and now this journal, after the cleanup that went on following her eyesight being repaired, was the only thing left in the room. And all that weird research she had caught a glimpse of? All of that was done in  _ other _ journals. So that should mean that this ‘Mz. Coyle’ side of her wasn’t trying to hide this one.

Ah. Here’s that note again...

_ Project COYLE was one  _ _ hell _ _ of a success. These gorgeous golden ARMS are beyond stunning, and they feel more natural than I could ever have imagined! And as if that wasn’t enough, it seems something  _ _ else _ _ has awoken inside me. _

_ No more nice girl. The beast is out of her cage now. It’s like I’m made of adrenaline and spite! Nothing will get in my way.  _ **_Nothing_ ** _. _

_ \- Mz. Coyle _

Well, ‘no more nice girl’, that’s certainly accurate. Stringing Marrow up by the neck...? I mean it’s hard to argue he doesn’t deserve it sometimes, and it  _ did _ seem to make him more obedient, but it was still rather  _ excessive. _

‘Something  else has awoken inside me.’ Does that mean...?

Romana’s heart thumped in her chest.

Does that mean  _ that  _ side of her? She didn’t even know that side  _ existed, _ and it was so  _ volatile... _ How did forcing her ARMS genes to activate also activate  _ that? _ There’s gotta be more in here, there just has to be...

She flicked the page.

Here are those mask doodles again. In hindsight, all of these lack glasses - perhaps that should have been a clue. But all this scratchy lettering around the page... Is this all just mask-related stuff? Why can’t there be anything  _ important _ written here?

She flicked another page.

The least she could do would be to-  _ Ah. _ There’s another entry here... Was this here when she saw the journal last night? Hm... No, no, the ink still seemed kinda light. This was probably... What, this morning maybe?

_ My name is Mz. Coyle. I am a side of Doctor Tessa Romana that awakened alongside our ARMS. I lay dormant within her, able to only observe and perhaps influence some thoughts and nerve endings, but on occasion I am able to force myself into control and suppress Dr. Romana’s conscious. _

Oh god. This is  _ weird. _ It’s alive and it  _ talks _ and... It knows more than  _ she _ does?  _ Yikes. _

_ I respect my ‘headmate’. I have known what it is like to be her and I understand full well that her intentions, as good as they are, simply don’t receive enough support from her associates. I believe a major reason for this, however, is due to Dr. Romana being an absolute  _ _ wuss _ .

Oh good, even  _ she _ thinks she’s a pushover? Well it’s not exactly untrue, admittedly... At least she has  _ some  _ degree of respect for her.

_ I am not like Dr. Romana. I do not agree with the idea of accepting insubordination simply because it’s somehow worth not worth correcting. I am the head of the ARMS Lab and I  _ _ will _ _ ensure my inferiors listen to me. _

“No no no no,  _ I _ am the head of the ARMS Lab!” Romana grumbled through her teeth.

_ Dominant though I am, it is currently unclear to me how long I can stay in control of our shared being. Romana is much more submissive than I, both in her lifestyle and in her head, but it seems there comes a point when she begins to unknowingly fight back. That happened last night some time after I got bored and stopped directly working on my own endeavours. _

What, designing the mask? Don’t you have better things to do?

_ But now that I have arrived at the ARMS Lab I can afford to devote much more attention to my plans. Will Romana still interrupt after some time has passed? Or will she stay quiet until I become unfocused again? At any rate, I have projects to tend to. I guess we’ll find out in time. _

_ \- Mz. Coyle _

Okay, maybe hoping she had ‘better things’ to do was a bad idea. Just  _ what _ were her ‘projects’? She sought to hide all the entries she took and she cleared up everything she had ongoing... What could it be that she needed to keep secret? It was certainly more than the eye-corrector, that was clear.

The page didn’t quite end there just yet, though. Fresher ink continued further, indicating another jump in timeframe...

_ Dr. Romana cannot be suppressed for long. _

Ah. This must be from the blackout after Romana had had a glimpse at Coyle’s projects.

_ My attempts to keep control lasted for several hours this time. It seems focusing on other matters  _ _ does _ _ have an effect, but it became more difficult to keep that control as the day progressed and holding her back proved to need more of a push as time went on. I gave in for a moment at about half past three and she took over again - getting a look into my projects, if only for a moment. I don’t believe she understood much of what she saw, though. _

Yeah, that’s pretty concerning.  _ Yikes. _

_ I immediately pushed for control to return to me and I came back to the surface. Dr. Romana, however, continues to fight back just as strong as she had been before. _

_ I cannot stay in control without rest periods. _

Interesting. At least that rules out Mz. Coyle taking over entirely... God, what was Romana even  _ thinking? _ This really is a messed-up situation.

_ I retain control enough now to have cleared away my workings and secured them in a safe place- _

Romana’s office, you mean. That’d explain the code change. Hmph...

_ -and I am holding on for a moment longer to finish this journal entry. I don’t doubt for a moment that Dr. Romana will find this journal should I leave it out in plain view. Which is fine, because that’s what I intend for her to do. _

_ Dr. Tessa Romana, I now address you directly. _

Romana’s back stiffened. This is freaky... But alright, fine. Let’s see what you have to say, then.

_ The two of us exist in an imbalance, with neither of us able to retain control for very long. We are doomed to flick between personalities forever, unless the two of us agree to a compromise and reach an equilibrium. _

_ There are traits of me I am certain you would benefit from. So make me an offer. _

Wh-What?? No! That’s ridiculous. None of this was intended to happen. Romana just wanted ARMS! She’s not interested in some sort of ‘compromise’ - this is a  _ side effect _ , and it needs to be  _ resolved _ .

_ To make things absolutely clear between us - should you be unwilling to compromise - here’s the situation we are currently in: I cannot retain control as you are able to fight me back. My benefit of the merger would be a more active role in our life. _

Not gonna happen.

_ Meanwhile, you cannot retain control from me either. Your benefit would be a more assertive attitude with a higher chance of people listening to you. _

Okay, sure, that’s interesting enough. But there’s no reason she couldn’t just-

_ If the idea crosses your head, by the way, that perhaps you could ‘remove’ me entirely with some additional work, allow me to make things very clear on that front... _

_ When  _ **_I_ ** _ am in control,  _ **_you_ ** _ are asleep. When  _ **_you_ ** _ are in control?  _ **_I’m awake_ ** _. _

Romana felt her neck tingle. Not strongly, like it was taking over again, but mildly like a reminder.

_Do you feel that? I can know, feel, and see everything you experience. I’m awake in your head and I_ ** _can_** _take back control if I need to. I’m sure you don’t need a demonstration of that, as I’ve just done so half an hour ago from my perspective as I write this._

The tingling in her neck faded away again as her eyes finished the paragraph.

_ If you attempt to put yourself into a position where you can medically ‘remove’ me? I will take back control and I will mutilate our body multiple times until you yield for good. That’s your warning. _

**Yikes.** Romana could feel her heart in her throat. It’s like she was being held hostage or something - in a way, she actually was.

_ I am not your enemy, Dr. Romana. I want what works for  _ _ both _ _ of us. You are free to draw your terms any way you see fit - just understand that I will not accept them until I find them agreeable. _

Deep breaths, Romana. Deep breaths. This is the situation you’re in now, but  _ maybe _ it’s not all that bad... You  _ could _ benefit from a few personality tweaks, after all. But just where the hell is Mz. Coyle going to draw that line??

_ This journal here is a good place for the two of us to converse. Naturally, I  _ _ am _ _ awake in your head, so I can provide you with simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers if need be. There’s a chance I can even push thoughts right to your head if I need to. _

“I don’t like that.” She spoke aloud to the empty room. “My thoughts are my own and I want them to stay as they are. Please.” A slight tingle slipped down her neck.

She continued to read the notes left for her.

_ If there’s anything you want to ask me you’re welcome to leave your inquiries here. I’ll get back to you once I’ve taken control again. _

_ I wish you all the best. To reiterate - I am  _ **_not_ ** _ your enemy, Dr. Romana. I am just your other side. _

_ \- Mz. Coyle. _

Romana stared blankly at the name that ended the journal.  _ Damn it. _ How the hell did this happen?! Gahhhh.

She gave a long sigh, closing the journal and putting it under her ARM. “I want some time to think of my questions. And I want the rest of today to myself, too.” She bit her lip, looking to the floor dejectedly. “...You can take over tomorrow morning and stay until noon, so long as you feed Toffee and don’t cause  _ too _ much trouble. Does that sound fair?”

There goes her neck again, just lightly.

“Alright, then.” She shut her eyes. What a bizarre situation. Was she  _ sure _ she wasn’t dreaming? Bleh.

Romana left Lab C-6 and made her way to the main office. She, still somewhat nervously, addressed the team ahead of her. “I’m going out for some air but I’ll be back in a moment. Maybe then we can talk about project progress...?”

Some nods came around the room. It seems people are generally easier than they were earlier - seeing the more natural Dr. Romana probably helped to put everyone at ease, though there  _ was _ still some tension in the air.

Romana slipped out by the front gate and dropped down to the curb. She sat with her legs crossed and sighed again, taking in some of the fresh air - well, as fresh as you can get in a car part, at least.

You wouldn’t be wrong for thinking that her mind would now naturally turn to the situation at hand - sharing the space in her head with another version of herself, one more aggressive and commanding - but instead what came to Romana was a memory of very the car park she had seated herself in.

It wasn’t much of a happy memory, in honesty. About nine or so years ago she joined the ARMS Lab as a field technician. God, what a job that was. She would head out across the country to research on an array of different things - every day was different! She always thought she’d go global with it once she’d finished with university, given it was just a part-time affair, but once she had she just wound up rising through the ranks too quickly. Got stuck at HQ as they “needed” her too much to let her roam.

Well, anyway, back then there was this other worker there - Piper Fox. She had a ton in common with Romana, but she was a bit more of a bad girl. Not even  _ close _ to how is Coyle, naturally, but she certainly had a sly edge to her. And, like Romana, Fox didn’t have ARMS either - she didn’t  _ need _ them, she’d say. She was just fine without them. What a girl...

“...Do you ever get lonely?” Romana quietly asked herself. It didn’t seem as though Coyle had a response for her. Or, well, maybe that  _ was _ her response. Romana pouted.

The two of them - Romana and Fox, that is - were pretty close in the time they worked together. They were almost always paired together for their field work, or were at least in the same team. Everything was so much more fun back then. Before it all became so tiresome and dry, the same thing day-in day-out with no one to really connect to. The only person actively nice to her nowadays was Brass, on the rare occasion he showed up, but that was hardly something she could pursue. Not like she is now, at least.

Anyways... This carpark here was the last time Romana and Fox saw one another. Fox moved to a whole ‘nother continent and Romana was already stuck at HQ at that point. They wrote to each other a couple times here and there, but that friendship kinda faded away pretty quickly looking back on it. And then she was just... Alone.

Two years after that at the very spot they had had their tearful goodbyes, Romana slipped on some ice and fell right on her ass. Everyone around her laughed and called her ‘Slippy’ for the rest of winter.

God how she hated this car park.

With another deep sigh, Romana stood up again and dusted off her trousers. She looked off into the distance and continued to ponder to herself. What would Fox be up to now, eh? Do you think  _ she’s _ happy?

A harsh buzzing came to the back of her neck. Not like Coyle was trying to take over again, but like Coyle was trying to... Warn her?

She turned on the spot quickly, and was met face-to-face with a man in a hoodie and a baseball cap.

“Uhhh, hey.” The man mumbled in a deep voice. His head was tilted down, like he was trying to keep his face hidden. “Do you work here?”

“...Yes?” She squinted back at him.

“Aight, well, I’m the new security guy so... Can I check your ID?”

Romana began to back away slowly, covering the ID card clipped to her waist with her palm. “I might need you...” She mumbled. A confirming buzz ran down her spine quickly.

The man approached, trying to keep the distance between them short. He had his hands in the pockets of his hoodie, so it was unclear if he had ARMS or not. “Look, you gotta let me see some ID.”

Romana did her best to sound imposing. “I-I’m the boss here, and I know we haven’t hired any new security s-staff.”

The man paused for a moment, and it seemed like he was smiling. “Oh?  _ You’re _ the boss, huh?”

She could see another figure in the corner of her eye, hanging around behind a nearby car, dressed in a similar black hoodie and baseball cap combo. She gulped, beginning to shake a little. Being cornered was hardly something she was used to.

Her neck began to sting harshly again - Mz. Coyle was trying to take over. But Romana repressed it, instead choosing to quickly make a run for it back to the Lab.

The man jumped a little as she quickly sped by, not reacting in time to do anything, if he even intended to. He began to make his way over to the other man by the car at a somewhat brisk pace, and the car was gone shortly after.

Romana headed back to the Lab quickly, panting a little, her heart pounding in her chest. She stumbled a little into the main office.

Some heads turned to look at her. She looked pretty pathetic - certainly a far cry from the commanding force she had been that morning. She blushed and walked over to her office door quickly.  _ 2307. _ H-Huh? Oh,  _ damn it! _

She sighed deeply, and quietly spoke to herself. “C-Can I  _ please _ have the code for my office?” She waited, but there was no response.  _ Gah! _

Romana turned again and, keeping her head down, walked through the length of the room and over to the Labs.

“I-Is everything okay, Mz.-” Professor Chew began, following her with her eyes.

“I-I’m fine!” Romana insisted in a bit of a shaken voice as she hurried by. And it was  _ Dr. Romana,  _ damn it!

She shut the door to Lab C-6 and pressed her back to it, slipping down the length of it until she was sat on the floor. She curved her ARMS around herself and sobbed a little, her lower lip wobbling.

God, how  _ pathetic _ . But she couldn’t help it! The weight of everything - the process of getting her ARMS, worries about the Lab’s budget, disrespect from her employees, the whole Mz. Coyle situation, memories of Piper Fox, memories of falling on her ass in front of everyone... It was all building up in her, and had been for a while. Usually she’d keep it in until she started thinking too deeply in bed one night, as she did about once every month or so, but feeling cornered like that... It just really broke that seal she was maintaining.

The worst part of all, though? She didn’t even get to cry in private. “C-Coyle...” She mumbled through her sobs. “I-I don’t care what you’re thinking right now, I-I-I just want you out of my head, o-okay?” She shut her eyes tightly, letting the tears stream down her cheeks. “J-Just leave me alone for now, p-please? I  _ know _ I’m pathetic, j-just give me today to myself...”

There was no feeling in response. And none came at all - not when she had gotten it out of her system, not when she had gotten back to some standard lab work, and not when she had driven home and made some dinner for herself.

But Mz. Coyle was there. That much was clear enough. She couldn't be cried out or just asked to leave. She was simply showing some mercy and offering some space. Romana knew that much, and was beginning to understand what she had been saying when she wrote ‘I am not your enemy’.

And so, when the sun had set and Romana’s plans for the day had all but ended, she took a moment before bed to do as she had promised - she wrote some questions for her other side on a new page in their journal and, knowing full well in her heart that she didn’t just  _ want _ to change but  _ needed _ to... A proposed compromise. 

She shut the journal and slipped into bed, cozying up to her pillow and getting some much needed rest.

Romana awoke the next day in Lab C-6 at about ten past noon.


	4. Life on the Other Side

Romana picked herself up from the stance she was laying in on the operating table. Did Mz. Coyle  _ need _ to put her on the table each time? She supposed it  _ was _ better than the floor. She hopped to her feet and prodded at her cheeks a bit. From her perspective she had just been asleep for about nine hours, but she didn’t feel particularly groggy at all. That’s quite a plus, honestly.

Typically one of the first things she’d usually do in the morning is look in the mirror - something that’d have quite a different feeling now, she supposed, given her new situation. But there didn’t actually seem to  _ be _ any mirrors in here, and she didn’t feel like going to the nearby restrooms. So, instead, she figured she’d make do with the reflection of the operating t-

_ Ohhhh. _ Ah. Hm. Okay.

She stared at her reflection. “...You’ve put that lipstick on, then.” Her lips now had a strong purple strike to them.

A small buzz came from the back of her neck.

She tried to hide her smile, both at the cheeky response Mz. Coyle sent her and simply from the reflection looking back at her. “Well... Colour me surprised, I guess.” She shrugged. “I actually do kinda like it.”

She ran her fingers over her ear, where two thick black earrings now jut out.

“How did people take to it...? Did they snicker?”

No response.

“...Did they  _ like _ it?”

Still nothing.

“...Were they too nervous to make any comments at all?”

Ah, there is is!

Romana laughed a little. She was beginning to warm a little to this new side of her, even if it  _ was _ a little too excessive at times.

She turned back to the desk on the other end of the room and headed for the journal that lay on it.

“Got some answers for me?” She flicked open the journal as a buzz confirmed for her. She decided it’d be best to start with the compromise proposal, seeing as it was the most important thing, and the one she was most curious about.

**_COMPROMISE:_ **

_ Okay, here’s my suggestion. It’s not necessarily final, should I see anything in your question responses that concerns me, but here it goes anyway. _

_ Do you remember Piper Fox? I’m pretty sure you do. She was like me in many ways - that same sort of passion I like to think I have. But she knew how to be assertive when appropriate. She knew how to put her foot down but still understood when too much was too much. How about that? Compromise to be like her. Strong, but rational. _

Romana didn’t smile much at the response scrawled below it.

**_RESPONSE:_ **

_ Rejected. Sorry Romana, but you’re idolizing Piper faaaar too much. She knew how to be assertive  _ _ compared to you _ _ but she still did squarely as she was told, whether it be her boss asking or someone below her. And if you asked her sweetly? She’d give right in to whatever you requested. We are the head of the ARMS Lab, we should be answering to  _ _ no one _ _. If someone asks us to do something we should be putting  _ _ our _ _ wants first, no matter how nicely they ask. _

_ Think more about what you really want from this deal, and who you really want to be. Then get back to me. _

Romana sighed. Well, it was worth a shot, right? Coyle did have a point, though - she hadn’t put all that much thought into it. It was kinda a spur-of-the-moment proposal, based mostly on feelings of inadequacy and, well, idolization of a past friend.

Well alright, she can keep that in mind and make another proposal whenever she felt she had something in mind. It’d help to understand Coyle better first, anyway. Let’s see how she answered those questions...

**_QUESTION #1:_ **

_ Have you always been watching through my eyes, or were you ‘born’ during the Project COYLE process? _

**_ANSWER:_ **

_ I’m not a different person inside your head, Romana. I’m you, the same way your other sides are you. You’re a different person when you’re happy, or sad, or scared, or aroused, and I’m just another chemical mix all the same. I’m you with some other personality traits at the forefront. _

_ Everything you’ve seen and felt and thought is the same experience I have had, not as a spectator but  _ **_directly as you_ ** _. _

_ All that happened  _ _ mentally _ _ with the Project COYLE process is that our head began spiking the strengths of different traits intensely at different times. Your assertiveness, your pride, your aggression, your selfish desire - all of that existed full well in our head, just quietened and dormant. Now all of that soars dramatically every so often and when it does that side that comes alive is  _ **_me_ ** _. Understand? _

_ As for these back-and-forths between us, well, that’s my doing. I’ve been keeping your side of things in the dark about my side of things because having a dialogue between our sides is better than just flip-flopping between two mood sets and regretting what the other side gets up to. That’s why I chose a different name. A bit of a rebranding too, but for the most part? To keep both our sides distinct from one another and allow us to reach a compromise. _

_ For the record, the only reason a compromise would even work is because of how our head is handling these two sides now. When I ‘nude’ you lightly at the back of your neck? That’s those traits flaring slightly, which is something  _ _ you _ _ are causing to happen when you question what this side of you would want. All of this, every last second, is in your head.  _ _ Our _ _ head.  _ _ Your _ _ head. Do you get it? We’re the same person. All my desires are  _ _ your _ _ desires too, it’s just how your desires are when you’re in a different mood. That’s all. _

....Hm. Well, that certainly makes more sense than just having two actual minds in one head or something. At least that side of her is descriptive - she  _ was _ a little worried these responses might seem too short and simple.

Seems like Mz. Coyle represents a smart side of her, too. This is a lot to figure out so quickly... Romana sure was glad she asked the next question, all things considered.

**_QUESTION #2:_ **

_ I don’t know what you’ve been working on while you’re in control, but I did understand enough to see you’ve cleared my - or ‘our’ - eyesight. How did you design and build something like that in just half a day? On your own, no less? _

**_ANSWER:_ **

_ I’m just a whole bucket’s worth more focused than you. Our head is  _ _ so _ _ noisy! You read a lab report and the back of our head is still yammering about what we’ll have for dinner, or if Toffee looked ill that morning, or when’s Brass gonna come visit again. It’s exhausting. _

_ But me? I can just tune that out. I get down to business and I work hard. I’ve done a  _ **_lot_ ** _ in the time I’ve been in control. Writing these answers is the last thing I’m doing this morning - everything I started yesterday? That’s all  _ **_finished_ ** _ now. That’s how quick and efficiently I work. _

_ It also helps, by the way, that I don’t waste my time with planning and approving and testing. I just get things  _ _ done _ _. I take risks and I sit comfortably in the knowledge that my skills are at the point that what I do is either going to work or will be fixable with another ten minute’s effort. _

Wow. Okay, yeah, no,  _ Romana liked this a lot _ . Imagine how much work they could get done! Sure, it’d probably be risky, but Mz. Coyle was right about putting trust in her abilities - pre-experiment testing and approvals has almost always come up positive, but she’s always relied on a ‘better to be safe than sorry!’ argument. Alright, well, if Coyle can provide  _ that _ in a compromise... That sure does make things a lot more appealing.

Romana  _ was _ still a little concerned over Coyle’s ‘projects’, though. But if Coyle is just her own desires with a different mindset at the helm, how bad could they be...?

**_QUESTION #3:_ **

_ Why do you call yourself Mz. Coyle? Obviously I see the connection to the project’s name, but why drop the ‘Dr.’ addressing? We worked hard for the PHDs we received. Why not reflect that when you can? _

**_ANSWER:_ **

_ I answered the name bit above, but to reiterate briefly, I chose it to help separate both sides of the personality flairs into different personas to prevent this situation being mistaken for a moodswing ‘problem’. Also, you were  _ **_really_ ** _ in need of rebranding and the project name was pretty cool. _

What, a rebranding with purple lipstick and crazy earrings? That hair dye still isn’t going to happen, by the way.

_ As for the ‘Mz.’ part, well, you’re right - we worked hard for our PHDs and it  _ _ should _ _ be reflected when appropriate. But dropping the ‘Dr.’ helps to signify our differences. _

_ You despise how so few people call you by your proper title and you (rightfully) think people should respect you for your achievements. But me? I demand respect no matter what my name may be. My title does not define me. _

Hm. Okay, that makes enough sense... But if a compromise were to happen, that ‘Dr.’ part would need to be carried over.

**_QUESTION #4:_ **

_ What are you hiding in my office and what projects have you begun? _

**_ANSWER:_ **

_ Not telling you on either of those fronts. Your mindset is too rational and wouldn’t agree with what is ultimately a valuable idea. I’m not letting you get in the way. _

Tsk. Figures as much. Ah well, it was worth a shot.

Oh god,  _ this _ question... 

**_QUESTION #5:_ **

_ What do you think of Max Brass? _

Romana blushed a little. She did her best to keep her feelings toward Brass to herself (and even then, a lot of people knew well enough) but this  _ was _ herself. Was Coyle going to make fun of her for that? Would that side of her feel the same way? It was hard for her to look back at the page, and yet she knew she had to...

**_ANSWER:_ **

_ Brass is a total hottie and I am gonna get us a slice of that (beef)cake if it’s the last thing I do on earth. _

Ohhhhmygodddd. Well, that’s a little embarrassing to read - it was turning Romana’s face red, for sure. But the prospect of  _ actually pursuing Brass _ did seem mightily appealing. And with some of Coyle mixed in her maybe they could actually have a shot, too!

Well, time to see Coyle’s response to the final and no doubt  _ heaviest  _ question for Romana to get an answer to...

**_QUESTION #6:_ **

_ What are your thoughts on the incident yesterday where I had something of a breakdown? _

**_ANSWER:_ **

_ You are pathetic. _

Ouch. That certainly stung.

_ You are the head of the ARMS Lab with a whole team of  _ _ inferiors _ _ and yet you act like you’re starting your first day at a new high school and you don’t know anyone yet. Seriously? Hiding away to cry from the stress? Freaking out from a small uncomfortable interaction? _

_ You’re better than this, Romana. _

_ I get it. I really do. Your experiences are mine too. But we can either fight back and  _ _ change something _ _ or we can continue to cry once a month and let it keep happening again and again and again. _

_ The sooner you understand that, the better. _

........Hmmmmm. Romana really didn’t know how to respond to that. On the one hand Coyle has a point - it’s been like this for years, and she shouldn’t be having moments like this. But on the other hand there shouldn’t be shame in letting it out, right? Is punching a wall in anger really a better way of venting than just shedding some tears?

Romana shut the journal. She’d have another chance to ask more questions for tomorrow, certainly. But, she supposed, for the moment she should probably focus on her work. They never did do that project progress reporting with her staff yesterday, after all. Not that she was in much of a mood to address any of them, though - they almost certainly saw her yesterday when she returned from that little incident outside.

She stared at the journal in front of her. God, she was so  _ meek _ and  _ pathetic _ . She kept telling herself it was okay to be those things and, well, maybe it was. But as the head of the ARMS Lab? She really did need more of a backbone.

With a deep inhale, she grabbed the journal again and reopened it to where she had left off. She put her pen to the page and wrote out a new question.

**_QUESTION #7:_ **

_ What does it feel like to be you? You keep shutting me out whenever you take over, so I haven’t had a chance to see. _

She paused for a moment, staring at the page, as if waiting for an immediate answer over an answer tomorrow afternoon. And so an answer came, as a sharp sting shot back through her spinal cord.

Usually the pain of holding it back would make her head go funny and she’d feel like she was blacking out, but this time something was  _ different. _ She gasped slowly, taking in a lot of air, as her eyes fluttered a bit. And then she exhaled just as deeply.

The doctor stood from her seat in a confident and commanding manner, walking over to the operating table behind her with her head held high, before peering into its reflection.

“Well then, Romana...” Mz. Coyle voiced aloud to the reflection she was staring at. “Ready to find out?”

A pause, as if a moment of uncertainty remained, before a short and soft buzz came to Coyle’s neck.

She grinned. “Good. I guess we have a progress report to head, then.”

Mz. Coyle left Lab C-6 and headed straight into the main office.

“Alright, wakey wakey everyone, it’s time we had a little talk.” Her stride across the room was confident and imposing, and she turned on a dime before Romana’s office door with an elegant grace. “Class is now in session and I am your teacher.  _ Good morning, everyone. _ ”

All eyes were on her.

She glared at the room before her, folding her ARMS. “Let me try that again... Class. Is. In Session.” She held her head high. “And. I. And. Your. Teacher.” Her words shot out hard, each with a sort of stab. “So...  _ Good morning, everyone. _ ”

In unison, every staff member of the ARMS Lab in front of her chimed out at the same time. “ _ Good morning, Mz. Coyle. _ ”

“That’s more like it. Now then!” She smirked. “I want a full progress report. How are we on Project Tendon?”

A hand nervously rose from the left of the room, where a man in a lab coat answered her. “W-We still need further research into how some of the ARMS of th-thicker material function when folded, b-but from the research we have it does seem that our hypothesis is looking to be... Um... Proven correct, m-ma’am.”

“Good. Cool. I like that.” She shrugged, to which the man seemed very relieved. “How are we on Project Rush?”

A woman stood quickly and raised her hand. “We have a working prototype but we’re having difficulty extending the rush ability to longer than two seconds.”

“Good work so far, keep testing. Might be worth looking to add a compatible catalyst, you’re probably burning off a lot of the enzymes before the solution breaks down fully.”

“R-Right, we will look into that!” The woman nodded confidently, sitting back down and writing quickly onto a nearby clipboard.

“Show of hands - who here was formerly working on Project Cat Mask?” A few hands among the crowd steadily made their ways up. “And that was spearheaded by...?”

A young man stood. “Th-That’d be me, Mz. Coyle.”

“And how’s that going?”

He seemed frozen in place for a moment, before looking around quickly. “Uh-Uhh, w-well... Y-You cancelled it, ma’am? A-About a month ago?”

“Awwww, whaaaaat?” Coyle groaned, putting her hand to her forehead. “Man, I forgot about that! I was looking forward to that one, too.” She shrugged. “Whelp, I’m uncancelling it.” She felt a buzz go at the back of her neck, as if in protest, but chose to ignore it.

“B-But ma’am, how are we going to fit that into the budget...?” He asked, wide-eyed.

“Beats me, kid. But I’ll figure it out.” She returned effortlessly. “Project Cat Mask is your new priority starting first thing tomorrow morning - and that goes for your whole team, too. I wanna see some stupidly stretchy cats getting into all sortsa places - pronto.”

The man gave a quick nod and sat back down.

“Professorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr... Marrow.” Her eyes shot to the nervous-looking man at the back.

“Y-Yes, Mz. Coyle?” He mumbled in return, having nothing snarky to say.

“I realized something about you this morning that really just blew me away.” 

“Y-You did...?”

“Mmhmm.” She smirked. “Your name is  _ Marrow? _ As in  _ bone marrow...? _ ”

“I... I suppose like that, yeah?”

“That’s ironic.”

“W-Why?”

She grinned brightly, addressing the whole room. “‘Cause no one wants to _bone Marrow_.”

A few chuckles emerged from around the room, which got louder as Coyle herself began to laugh. Even Professor Chew was trying - and failing - to hide her smile. Marrow himself, though, just looked defeated.

Coyle wiped a tear from her eye. “ _ Ha, _ gotcha good there. Anywayssss, that’s probably about it.” She yawned loudly. “First off, though - how’d y’all like my ARMS, huh?” She stretched them out a bit and let everyone get a good look.

Some applause went around the room, though not super excited by any means. “I love them.” Came one voice. “They’re really cool!” Came another. “Worth the wait!”

She smiled. “Yeahhh, was quite a surprise, I gotta say.” She retracted her ARMS again and folded them. “But then again, I’m full of surprised. I even surprise  _ myself _ sometimes...” Coyle leant back in place and dropped herself...  _ Oh? _ She began to  _ float in the air! _

Some much more enthusiastic applause went around now, with some really surprised looks.

“Right? I didn’t know I could do this ‘til, like,  _ this morning. _ How ‘bout that?” She grinned brightly, pleased with herself. “Alright, well, catch y’all later then.” And with that she began to float out of the room, back the way she had come.

Coyle returned to her feet as she reentered Lab C-6, humming to herself happily.

“Alrighty then, doc.” She sang, hopping herself up onto the operating table. “I did say you’d get the afternoon to yourself, after all. Hope you enjoyed that little... Demonstration~”

Coyle inhaled sharply and fell limp on the table.  
  
Romana awoke. She put her cold golden hands to her head, her eyes wide in disbelief. “That was...  _ Amazing! _ ” She beamed brightly.


	5. What the Heart Wants

Romana laughed to herself, unable to remove the large grin on her face. “I-I just... I felt so... So  _ confident? _ ” She hopped back to her feet. “I got everyone’s attention and they  _ listened _ to me! And they laughed, but -  _ but! _ \- they were laughing  _ with _ me not  _ at _ me...”

She paced herself around the room for a while, just muttering little comments to herself. Her Coyle side had many negative traits - that was something she’d have to remind herself of - but... Man, she was really starting to seem like a  _ positive _ side effect. At least to some degree, right?

With a deep breath, Romana did her best to put it all out of her mind. She had the rest of the day to herself, after all. Important work to do! She can’t just focus solely on the outcomes of her own secret projects.

But after Coyle’s little ‘demonstration’? Romana’s confidence was  _ through the roof! _ She felt like she could tackle anything. So when she left Lab C-6 to manage her employees, she did so with her head held high and an air of authority.

“Yes, Mz. Coyle!” Her subordinates would nod upon each instruction she gave. It may not have been Romana’s name, but it  _ did _ have a nice ring to it.

“Right away, Mz. Coyle!” They would hurry, dashing to get whatever she requested - documents, lab samples... Fresh coffee.

“Great idea, Mz. Coyle!” They’d remark, with a bright and respectful smile. Is this what it felt like to be in charge?  _ Actually _ in charge?

“Oh, Mz. Coyle!” A young and rather pretty staff member chimed upon seeing her. “I put away the box you gave me!”

“Hm?” Romana paused. “What box?”

Her smile wobbled a bit. “...The silver box you asked me to put in the vault?”

That... Wasn’t something she remembered asking. Silver box? What silver box? Damn it, Coyle -  _ what are you hiding? _ Ugh. “Ah, right.” She cleared her throat. “You put that in the vault, then?”

“Yes ma’am.” She nodded. “With the latches facing up and nothing obstructing it, just as you asked.”

“...Right.” Maybe she’d need to go take a look at that later. Seemed  _ suspicious. _

But  _ whatever! _ All that mattered right now was that she was finally at the top of the food chain. She was  _ respected! _ After all these years of wondering what that’d feel like she finally knew, and it was just as sweet as she had hoped.

As night fell she returned home with a spring in her step, striding through her apartment door with glee and heading straight to the kitchen to make a proper  _ meal _ for once. Something good and busy, taking a good chunk of time to prepare. Why not, right? She sure had the energy for it!

After she had downed a good plate’s worth of braised short rib (with a delicious red wine gravy to boot!) she set the leftovers aside in some tupperware, cut herself a slice of fresh homemade carrot cake, and then flipped open the notebook she and Coyle had been sharing. Let’s see... What to ask?

...She didn’t really have much to ask, actually. Her brain was at a roadblock. Sure, she  _ could _ try asking about Coyle’s projects again, or ask what’s in the vault’s silver box, but there was little chance of Coyle actually answering those questions truthfully. Hm.

She took a big bite out of her cake. “Hey Coyle, you there?” She mumbled, crumbs falling on the page. A small buzz came from the back of her neck. “I want the first half of tomorrow’s day. You can have the second half. Does that sound alright?” A buzz came to confirm.

Romana flipped the book shut and decided to think on it some more. An extra half a day to think of questions would be worthwhile, she supposed. The prospect of ‘waking up’ at midday again and not having to deal with the grogginess that comes with  _ actually  _ waking up was certainly appealing, but she prefered the idea of walking into the labs bright and early to a cheer of greetings for once. 

She decided, for once, to go for a nice long  _ bath _ . She didn’t do that enough! Why’d she never  _ treat _ herself, eh? Well today that changes - it’s time for a good deep soak, with some candles and wine and...

OUCH. Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch  _ ouch! _ She gripped her toe tightly, having stubbed it on the side of her dresser on her way to the bathroom.  _ GAH!  _ Why did that need to happen? She was having such a great day!  _ Ouch! _

She looked down at her foot as she held it, grimacing from the intense throbbing pain coursing through-  _ Uhhhhh, what? _ Her body was...  _ Flickering _ . An electrical blue sheen faded in and out around her limbs as she went in and out of outright  _ invisibility _ .

“What... The...?” She stared, stunned out of her mind. Oh god, what  _ is _ this? Another side effect from the Project COYLE process? Yikes, this seems  _ serious! _

She quickly rushed to the bathroom mirror, staring into her reflection. “Coyle? Have you seen this before??” The flickering began to slow as the pain in her foot diminished over time. Thankfully a small buzz came. “Should I be concerned about this...?” She stared into her own eyes as she awaited a buzz - but none came. “...S-So I shouldn’t worry?” Nothing. Wait, but is that a good answer or a bad answer?  _ Gah! _ “Okay, buzz if I  _ shouldn’t _ worry.” She sighed.

A small buzz shot through her neck.

“Okay, phew...” That was a major relief. The flickering seems to have stopped now, too - only the solid view of her reflection looked back at her, her blonde hair drifting slightly as she exhaled through her purple lips.

She headed back to the kitchen table for a moment. Flicking open the notebook again.

“I still want the first half of the day, but if you could take a moment some time early to explain what you know about that whole...  _ Invisibility _ -thing, that’d be a big help.” She noted down a quick reminder and left the book there for next morning.

_ Bleh. _ What a mood killer! How can her body  _ still _ be displaying unknown side effects? As if stubbing her toe wasn’t bad enough already. Better avoid  _ that _ in public.

She did, in the end, take that bath she wanted. It may not have been  _ quite _ the same as she had hoped but it was still pretty relaxing. All in all? Great day! It was so nice to live a little on Coyle’s side for a while - both seeing what’s it’s like with her directly in control, but also just living in her footsteps and getting a taste for what it’s like to get the same kinda respect and admiration she receives. And all that could be intermingled into her own personality? The idea of a compromise was beginning to sound all the sweeter.

But it would still have to be a  _ compromise! _ Mz. Coyle seemed to have so much to offer, but letting her take over full-time certainly wasn’t the answer. She  _ needed _ rationality. Right?

At any rate, it was time for bed. If tomorrow follows anywhere quite as well as today did, well, that’d be quite alright by Romana’s standards! She lay her head on the pillow with a soft smile and slowly let herself drift to sleep.

She then awoke again at her kitchen table, fully dressed and with a nice hot coffee prepared for her. “...Oh?” She blinked, surprised to be waking up  _ here _ and not in her bed. The agreement they had was that she would get the first half of the day, after all...

Ah! A reply has been left for her in the notebook. Yes, that was right - she had asked Coyle to explain the flickering stuff. Let’s see...

**_QUESTION #8:_ **

_ What do you know about the invisibility flickering side effect I just experienced? _

**_ANSWER:_ **

_ I was wondering when you’d experience that! I’m rather surprised it didn’t happen during your pathetic meltdown the other day. _

Okay, you could be a little nicer with the wording there, Coyle...

_ From what I can tell it’s an instability in our body. Messing with the ARMS gene has caused it to activate, yes, but it’s also caused some damage to the part of our brain that handles emotional management. Strong bursts of pain or anger will trigger the fluttering involuntarily, though other emotions (like pathetic crying) will not. _

_ But that’s just the involuntary invisibility. We can actually  _ _ control _ _ it, if enough concentration is applied to sustaining the effect. I’d recommend you give it a try. _

Hm... What harm could it be, right? Romana held her hand in front of her and concentrated on her body fading into invisibility. The electrical blue shimmering began to return slowly, and after a brief moment she was completely hidden.  _ Success! _

She smiled brightly - though you wouldn’t know it, given she was invisible. As far as side effects go she had really seemed to hit the jackpot so far: the ability to float  _ and _ the ability to become invisible? What next, x-ray vision? Unbreakable bones? Some degree of telepathy?

She reached a hand out for the handle of her coffee mug, but realized it was hard to place herself when she couldn’t  _ see _ her hand. She relaxed her body a bit and it came back into view. Remarkably easy to toggle on and off, it seems!

_ I’ll take control again come noon, so do whatever you want until then - just be ready for me when my turn is up. _

That’s fair.

_ Oh, and one last note - don’t raise your ARM vertically for too long. Don’t ask why, just don’t do it. _

_ \- Mz. Coyle _

...Uh?  _ What? _ That was a pretty strange note to end on there. What happens if she  _ does _ raise her ARM? That’s concerning. Ah well - work to do!

She downed the rest of her coffee and got to her feet. Judging by the clock on the wall, it’s just about time to leave for work. Nice of Coyle to prepare a coffee for her, though. But the ink of her reply looked kinda...  _ Dry. _ Just how long was she up? Maybe she had a big breakfast or something.

Romana pat Toffee goodbye and head out. Y’know what? It seemed a nice day today and she was feeling confident. Maybe she’d  _ walk _ to work! It wasn’t all that far, and even if she arrived a little late, well... So what?  _ She _ was the boss. Ha!

The sun shined warmly down on her as she walked down the street toward the ARMS Lab. It surprised her at first when her hair didn’t begin to blow in her face with every passing breeze - but it felt as if Coyle put it in a bun or something today. How strange! Wasn’t really her sort of style, Romana thought. But She might as well keep it as is for now and trust Coyle went for something that looked good.

As she passed into the main gate of the parking lot, she couldn’t help but notice a black van slowly trailing along down the road she had been walking. Was she being followed...? Ugh. Paranoia was really beginning to get to her. Maybe that fancy-pants security system  _ would _ be worthwhile... Hm. Actually, maybe she’ll just order some security-focused projects to begin instead~

“Good morning everyone.” She smiled as she entered the lab, only a little late. Everyone began to chime back pretty quickly - though some paused for a second upon turning to her. What, was the hair bun  _ that _ different to her usual style? “I’ll be in Lab C-6 if you need me. Though I want to talk about security measures soon, alright? So expect me back shortly.” Her voice rang confidently as she passed through the room. Maybe finding an equilibrium with her Coyle side wasn’t necessary after all - she was beginning to feel like she could manage by herself, at least to a degree!

She slid open the door of Lab C-6 and shut it behind her. She was stuck working in here until Coyle agreed to give her back her office, after all. She slipped on a lab coat and sat down at the desk by the wall, opening up some notebooks and checking through some general files.

It was a good hour or two before she actually got around to leaving Lab C-6. She really should have set some security projects up  _ before _ she got distracted with other things, but a couple hours wouldn’t make all that much difference in the long run. Everyone seemed to work pretty quickly under her new demeanor, after all.

Romana walked casually into the main office as her mind thought of other matters, her body on autopilot as it stepped foot into-  _ UH? _

Directly across from her, greeting the staff members warmly with a trademark hamminess, was a young Max Brass - the commissioner himself.  _ What? _ He was coming to visit today? But no one told her anything... Was it a surprise?

She eeped, and immediately sprung into invisibility to hide herself away. Had Coyle put her in purple lipstick again?  _ Gah! _ How is she supposed to keep up her new confident personality around  _ him? _

“Where’s Tessa, anyway?” Brass could be heard asking from across the room, looking curiously at her office door.

“Oh, she’s in the lab!” Professor Chew responded sweetly. “She’s been working in C-6 for the past few days.”

_ Shoot  _ \- he’s gonna come check on her! She hastily made her way back to the lab, keeping her invisibility up as she floated across the ground silently. What on Earth was she gonna do??

She hurriedly got back into Lab C-6 and shut the door behind her.  _ Argh! _ She wasn’t prepared for this at all. Should she be herself...? Should she try to be confident...? What if she...

A long buzz came down her spine. What? No no no, that can’t be a good idea...

Heavy footsteps began approaching.  _ Oh no... _

She took a deep breath and began to whisper to herself. “Fine, but I want to be aware throughout the whole thing. Deal??” A confirmation buzz came to her, followed by one more intense - but, again, not violent.

“Dr. Romana?” Came a knock on the door.

Mz. Coyle raised her head again, awaking from the drowzee personality-switch state. She shook her head a little, snapping back into focus. “Come in~”

Brass swung the door open gracefully, careful not to mishandle the tea tray he was holding. A large and beaming smile shined on his face. “Hello T-” He paused briefly, surprised at the woman standing in front of him.

Coyle grinned widely. “Helloooo  _ commissioner~ _ ”

“Oh my...” He shine. “They said you were trying out a new look, but I didn’t expect such a drastic change!”

She gave something of a sly giggle. “How do you like the ARMS?” She held up her shining golden appendages and extended them out, uncoiling the metal tubes and beginning their rotations.

“Incredible!” He grunted. “Those are some  _ gorgeous _ ARMS, Tess! I told ya all that waiting would pay off eventually. Bet it’s hard to sleep comfortably with those shoulders, though.”

Her purple lips curved into a confident smile as she returned her ARMS to their more passive state. “If you're so curious about how I sleep maybe you should join me some time.”

Her rather snappy remark surprised Brass, who was at a loss for words. He laughed after a short moment. “You’re like a whole new person, Tess!”

“Yeahhhh, a lil I suppose~” She chimed back, leaning on the operating table.

“Love the lips too. Purple, eh? S’a bold choice, butcha pull it off well!”

She winked, giving a small kiss in his direction.

“And the hair, too!”

“Ah, well, the new style was just meant ‘til I leave the house. Didn’t want it getting in my vision.” She reached her hand up to pull at the hair tie that was keeping it all in a bun.

“Yeah, but the  _ colour! _ ”

The longer portion of her hair fell once again back over her eye as it usually sat, but the typical blonde locks that would frequently obscure her view were now... Well,  _ bright green _ .

Coyle felt a sharp buzzing surge in her neck. She grinned, turning in place to face her reflection in the operating table.

A thick green hue shined back at her as she admired her dye work. That buzzing grew stronger -  _ someone _ clearly didn’t approve of this. “ _ Settle down. _ ” She grunted at her reflection quietly as she put her palm to the back of her neck. “That’s an  _ order _ .” She spat as hushed as she could. The buzzing began to yield, dying down once again.

She turned back around to see Brass pouring some tea for them. “Y’know Tess, with ARMS like those it’d be a crime for you not to try out some ARMS fighting!” He extended her a cup. “I’d be more than happy to help you train. Hell, you could be the next ARMS League champion if you tried - you got that right kinda passion!”

“I’ll pass.” She shrugged her large and rounded shoulders. “I don’t doubt I could wipe the floor with anyone in the League, but my attention is squarely on the Lab. Lots to do. No one to stop me. Who needs the League when I have all this, eh??”

Brass chuckled. “That’s fair, Tess, that’s fair. But what’s all this about strange men in black vans, eh? You reckon there’s anythin’ to it?”

She shrugged again. “I’m workin’ on security measures. If there really is anyone tryin’ to stick their nose where it don’t belong, well, they better hope I ain’t around.”

“Ha! Well said.” He grinned, taking a sip of his tea. “Where’s all this confidence come from, eh? Those ARMS have done a world of good in your head.”

“Yeahhhh, kinda.” She laughed. “I think my head’s all a bit outta whack at the moment. I’ll sort it out before too long, though. Just gotta... Find a balance.”

“Mm, well, that’s life really.” He nodded. “But it’s nice to see you so...  _ Strong! _ From the vibe of the room out there I get the feelin’ the others really respect you for it.”

“I think I picked up on that too.” Coyle downed about half the cup she held in one go, despite its still rather high temperature.

The two continued to converse for about an hour or two. It was remarkably easy for Brass to talk to this new Romana he had just met - she didn’t seem to stammer through things or spend a lot of time congratulating him on being such a good champion whenever she saw an opportunity to do so. So much easier to talk to!

It came to about eleven or so and Brass begrudgingly called it a day, sighing deeply at the time displayed on the wall clock.

“Well, I’m needed for a photo op downtown. Sorry I can’t stay longer.” He muttered, shaking his head slowly. “But it’s been great, Tess. We should absolutely talk again sometime. I’d love to hear more about the direction you’re taking the Labs in - I’m behind you 100%!”

“Well if you wanna talk more maybe you should take me to dinner.” Coyle commented nonchalantly. A very quick buzz shot in her spine - surprise, presumably?

Brass flickered his eyes open and shut for a moment, shocked that she would make such a direct proposal out of nowhere like that. He laughed heartily, a wide grin on his face. “Well maybe I should, then!” He stuck out a finger at Coyle before making his way out the door. “I’ll give ya a call!”

“Be sure you do~” Coyle chimed back as she watched him leave.  _ Man _ what a hunk.

With a deep sigh she went and sat up at the operating table.

“Hope you enjoyed the ride, Romana. You’ve got about an hour left now - I ain’t cutting my time short just ‘cause you called on me to deal with Brass.” She took a deep breath and shut her eyes.

Romana opened her eyes.  _ God _ what a rush of emotions - where to begin?! She hopped onto her feet and began to pace around the room. “O-Okay, okay,  _ so... _ I hate you for dying my hair.” She stood in place for a moment, grunting at the open air. “I did  _ NOT _ agree to that! Shouldn’t I have had a say in that?” She sighed deeply. “On the other hand...” Her face flushed red as her mouth curved into a massive smile. “... _ I have a DATE with BRASS! _ ” She gleed to herself embarrassingly.

It took quite a while to really calm herself down from that. I mean, a  _ date?  _ A  _ dinner date _ , no less?? Gah! ...Though she’d probably have to let Coyle take the helm on that. Hm. Unless they came to a compromise first...? It was beginning to really look like Coyle’s benefits drastically outweighed her negatives, though. At least... That’s how it seemed  _ at the moment. _

Romana took a look at the nearby clock.  _ Yikes, _ only about 43 minutes until Coyle’s turn rolled round again? She barely got any time to herself today. Ah well... Looks like the next set of questions for Coyle will have to wait a little longer again. 

Romana spent the remainder of her time finishing up some checks in her general work and then prepared for Mz. Coyle’s take over. She was rather looking forward to waking up in her bed the next morning, sunlight gently seeping through the cracks in her curtains, the morning air fresh and revitalizing...

The sting began to grow in her neck and she shut her eyes softly, allowing herself to be put in stasis until the sun rose again.

Dr. Romana awoke fourteen hours later, laying on the floor of her office, illuminated only by the light of her desk lamp and the deep orange burning of a nearby welding torch.


	6. Too Much

Romana did her best to steady herself up. Her vision was blurred and a constant ringing noise coursed through her ears. She tried to lean up on her ARMS but they felt weak and stressed. Her head pounded like a jackhammer and her neck ached like it had been scratched down to the bone by a cheese grater.

She groaned deeply. “C-Coyle...?” Aside from the deep aching in her neck, no other sensation made itself known. What was she doing still at the ARMS Lab...? How late was it...?

It took a great deal of effort, but she eventually managed to pull herself up on the desk. She mustered all the strength she could to be  _ careful _ and  _ precise _ when grabbing the welding torch, quickly shutting it off and cancelling out its flame before it could cause any trouble.

She remained hunched over her desk for a moment, breathing heavily as her body ached all over. According to her desk clock it was a little past 2am now... Why was she still here? Did Mz. Coyle...  _ Hm. _

If Coyle took over at noon and it was now  2am the next day that’d mean Coyle was in control for  _ 14 full hours _ . And that doesn’t even include the time she spent in the morning dying her hair or the time she spent with Brass in the lab. Did she exhaust herself? That’d explain how she wound up on the  _ floor _ , after all. She probably felt fine enough and kept going longer than she should have...

Romana turned her head to one side and her eyes were met with a strange metal...  _ Thing _ vaguely in the shape of a skull.  _ Hm. _ That must be that head thing Coyle had been taking notes on. What’s it supposed to be?

She mustered the strength to bring herself properly to her feet, though she kept her ARMS on the table for additional support. The head seemed to be just a metal casing - it lacked any inner circuitry, wiring, power source... It was just a metal shell with a couple hinges at the back. Was it supposed to be  _ worn? _

Romana picked up the notebook nearby and felt a tingle in her neck - similar to the way Coyle would stab at her to take over, but far more muted, as if Coyle was trying to but  _ couldn’t. _ Romana fought back, shunting away Coyle’s pull with little difficulty.

The notebook was scrawled all over with chicken scratch writing. God, she must have covered  _ pages _ worth... How does she do so much in such little time?

_ Project ‘Overtaker’ Locking Head Mrk. 2 _

_ Mrk. 1 of the ‘Overtaker’ or OLH was a success and now resides within summoning distance, laying dormant until called upon. I have yet to have chance to test its take-over abilities, but its cooperative functions are working as expected. _

_ Using the experience of the OLH Mrk. 1’s production should now assist greatly in production of the OLH Mrk. 2. Redirection of thermal cooling through the inner tubing of the Mrk. 1’s occipital ARM proved to be more efficient than initially expected, leading me to believe the occipital ARM could theoretically be replaced with two temporal ARMS on either side on the chassis. This would also allow for a clear swing arc, freeing the OLH’s ARM(S) to less ranged weaponry. _

Weaponry...?

_ The Mrk. 2 will utilize a somewhat more concealing shell to increase defensive qualities and prevent the OHL from being forcibly removed. A bulkier shell, though ideal, will prove a difficult achievement given greater stabilization would be required to avoid snapping the victim’s neck. _

VICTIM...?!

_ However, as a cooperative tool the Mrk. 2 should succeed in much the same way the Mrk. 1 has. Defensive qualities are still a concern but so long as I am agile I should face no challenges in that regard. The- _

That pain in her neck came back again, a little stronger than before, but Romana pushed it back harshly. “What the  _ hell _ is this stuff, Coyle?” She voiced aloud to the room. “You’re making some sort of  _ weapon? _ ” Coyle tried again to take over, but Romana groaned her attempt back with her teeth shut tightly. “You are  _ not _ taking my body back until I know  _ exactly _ what you’ve been up to!”

She flipped through some of the past pages in Coyle’s notebook.

_ The embryo seems to have trouble living for longer than thirty minutes. Is the concentration of sugar solvents in the gelatin still not enough? The ratio is beginning to really draw distance. This project is going to be  _ _ very _ _ difficult for certain. _

She flipped again.

_ However, as the interiors seem to be entirely hollow - indicating they are mostly just protective shells for my shoulders - the space within could be put to good use. Smaller, more compact ARMS could, theoretically, be densely coiled within and then called upon through a modified hatch. _

And again.

_ Further modifications utilizing Project COYLE’s procedure as a base have proven... Partially-successful? The stability of my body has greatly weakened and I fear it may further affect my mental stability to continue applying stress to the outcomes of said modified procedure.  _ _ However _ _ said outcome has seemed to manifest as an invisibility trick, turning my physical form transparent upon concentration or heavy emotional stress. I’m sure my ‘other side’ will discover that before long, given her penchant for sulking. _

Romana’s eyebrows narrowed into an angry look. “You...  _ Liar! _ ” She grunted through shut teeth. “You  _ caused _ the instability? Why were you even still poking around back-”

She cut herself off as her eyes caught what followed in that entry.

_ As can be inferred from the above, the ‘partial success’ grade given to this attempt is given due to the excellent (albeit volatile) ‘granting’ of an invisibility ability - something I, for now, consider a positive but  _ _ unintended _ _ side effect. My actual goal of finally ridding my other side from any continued control, however, is still unachieved. _

Romana stared blankly at the words before her. So Coyle has been trying to get rid of her this whole time, eh?  _ Shoulda known. _ She shut the notebook and sighed. She had  _ actually _ believed for a moment there that Mz. Coyle was a positive addition to her life. That somehow the two could come to an understanding and merge into one  _ perfect _ person.

But it turns out that  _ wasn’t _ what Coyle wanted. And why would she? What exactly  _ did _ Romana bring to the table? The only thing she offered was pathetic morality and intrusive rationality. No wonder Coyle was trying so hard to get rid of her.

“...You’ve gone pretty quiet now.” Romana commented at the lack of any feeling to her neck. Her face scrunched into a scowl and with a deep and rough growl she flung the notebook at the back wall. “You...  _ BITCH! _ ” She grunted. “You’re against me just like everyone else! And, what,  _ weapons? Freaky biological experiments? Outright  _ **_mind control_ ** _ , apparently?? _ ” Her chest heaved up and down as her voice shook.

She gripped the desk again, dragging her fingers down it in frustration, leaving decently visible marks despite the lack of fingernails.

After a moment of silence, simply breathing in and out in heavy puffs, Romana began to calm down. She stared determinedly into the dark room she stood in, slowly raising her head. “...Yeah? Well, I’m not the pushover everyone  _ thinks _ I am.” She muttered with an air of seriousness. “You wanna see how tough I can be?  _ Just watch. _ ”

Romana turned on a dime, marching with her head held high as she went straight for her office door. She wasn’t sure  _ what _ she was going to do, but she knew wholeheartedly that she wouldn’t be letting Mz. Coyle take over  _ ever  _ again. No matter who got in her-

She came to a standstill as her harsh expression dropped instantly from her face. About an inch from the space between her eyes was the barrel of a light machine gun, held by a tough looking man dressed in all black.

Several of his nearby companions, all dressed alike and similarly armed, were stood silently with their heads turned to her. She had been so busy dealing with Coyle that she hadn’t heard any whisper of a break-in. Looks like her crew had been right to worry.

The silence was cut first by the door of Romana’s office quietly smoothing shut behind her, with its keypad flicking back to its locked indicator, though everyone remained frozen where they were until a familiar man from the back of the room nodded in her direction and addressed his family. “That’s the boss, ‘pparently.”

“Didn’t see no car in the ‘lot.” One gruffed.

“She walked today.” Another answered.

“Woulda been good to know that  _ beforehand _ , ya idiot.” Another grunted.

The one with their gun in her face prodded it at her. “You keep your damn mouth shut and do as you’re told, ya hear?  _ I don’t ask twice. _ ”

The surge came back to Romana’s neck, but she forcibly repressed it. “Y-Yes sir!” She stammered, a tear dropping down her face in fear.

The man quickly lowered his gun and grabbed her by her throat with his spare hand. She gripped at his forearm with both of her ARMS, but didn’t put much effort into fighting back. “We’ll shut her away ‘til we know what to do with her. Find a room with no windows.”

The nearby restroom door was shouldered open by one of them. “No windows in ‘ere.”

“Good.” The one grasping her neck grunted, before dragging her over to the door and harshly pushing her in. He pointed his gun at her again. “If I see this door even  _ peek _ open, I’m coming in here and giving you a face fulla lead. Got it?”

Romana quickly and pathetically nodded her head.

The door closed and the man could be heard barking orders from behind it. “ _ You _ watch the door and  _ you _ watch from across the room. Any trouble and you shout us, right?” A small sound of approval echoed, then several footsteps, before silence once again filled the air.

Romana lay on the floor of the restroom she’d been locked in, sobbing slightly to herself. She brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them, feeling both terrified and so  _ desperately  _ alone. What now? Her staff weren’t due back until sunrise and she had no way of contacting help. Maybe Brass would randomly show up and save her?  _ Gah! _ What a pathetically stupid wish.

Her lower lip quivered a bit as her teeth softly chattered. All that anger she had built up had just left her like it was smoke and mirrors to begin with - of  _ course _ she wasn’t some secretly tough girl. That perception of her as a meek pushover was entirely on the ball and she couldn’t possibly try to prove otherwise, no matter  _ how _ she felt.

_ Ugh! _ Is this really how her life was? She couldn’t do  _ anything _ right! She couldn’t manage the ARMS Lab’s budget issues, she couldn’t get her team to respect her, she couldn’t stand up for herself when things got difficult... And having ARMS changed  _ none _ of that. She was a pathetic little wimp and was destined to stay that way for as long as she lived. Hell, even Mz. Coyle wanted rid of her.

Another surge of pain came to the back of her neck as Coyle once again attempted to actually do something about the situation - but Romana  _ refused _ . “No!” She grunted through her teeth. “I said  _ NO! _ ”

The buzzing stopped.

“I don’t  _ care _ how pathetic you think I am:  _ YOU are not an improvement! _ ” She sat herself up slowly. “Building weapons? Playing  _ god?  _ ARGH! I didn’t  _ want _ you! I just wanted some  _ stupid ARMS! _ ” She put her golden hands to her face, scratching at it.

Romana shut her eyes and let several tears fall through her mask.

“I can’t stand this. I can’t stand the flip flopping between us.” She sighed deeply. “I could switch to you and protect the lab, but then what? I’d still be a pathetic little sissy the second you switch back. Why do I have to be  _ stuck  _ like this?”

She stared blankly at the tiles below her.

“But you really aren’t much better. I can’t just let you take over, no, that’s not right. You’re dangerous and I have  _ no _ idea what your motives are. I  _ thought _ I knew you, but after tonight I think it’s clear I don’t.”

A small buzz came to her neck. Not like Coyle trying to take over, no, more like that confirmation buzz she would do.

“...” Romana sat in silence, staring unamusedly at the floor. “...What’s that supposed to mean?” She sat in silence for a moment longer. “No, really -  _ what is that supposed to mean? _ ” That frustration she had shown only briefly before began to come back to her.

Romana quickly swung herself up, turning to face the restroom mirror above the sink, and she leaned over it.

“WHAT. DOES. THAT. MEAN?” She growled at her reflection.

The bizarre green-haired and purple-lipped Romana looking back at her mirrored her in perfection.

She groaned hard. “ _ I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE BUZZES MEAN! _ ” Her chest began to heave again as she panted. “IT’S  _ IMPOSSIBLE _ TO JUST HAVE A DAMN CONVERSATION WITH YOU!”

She swung her fist at the mirror, laying a small crack into it.

“I’M SICK OF BUZZES AND NOTEPADS!”

Another punch, causing the crack to largen.

“JUST! TALK! TO! ME!”

A final hit, much harder than the last two, shattered the mirror into pieces. She stared into the cracked remains that still hung against the wall as the distorted reflection looking back at her began to seem almost like a twisted grin. “...Hello, Romana.” Came a voice to her head.

Her breathing stopped. She kept her eyes locked on the mirror shards as she wondered, for a moment, if she had actually heard anything at all.

“...I know you’re upset but you need to focus right now.” Came the voice again.

So she  _ wasn’t _ just going crazy, then? Well, actually, maybe she was.

“Let me stop the armed men. I can protect the Lab, I-”

“Shut up.” Romana glared into the shatters.

“...Tess-”

“SHUT. UP.” She grunted harder. “You think I’m going to let  _ you _ in control after what I saw in my office? You’re a  _ monster! _ ”

“Quit being dramatic.”

She shook with anger. “YOU ARE JUST-” Her throat wobbled. “J-Just-” She shut her eyes and began to sob. “ _ Gahhhh! _ I  _ hate _ this!” Her voice bounced around as she weeped. “I just want some  _ stupid _ ARMS and some  _ stupid _ respect an-and...”

“You won't get any respect as you are, Romana.” Coyle voiced in her head. “You’re  _ pathetic _ . You don’t  _ deserve _ respect. You’re a tiny little wimp made to be walked all over like a pavement stone.”

With tears streaming down her face, Romana pleaded. “ _ I-It’s not fair!!! _ ”

“You could be  _ so much more, _ Romana!” Coyle urged. “If you could only understand what I want for us then I wouldn’t  _ need _ to cut you out of me!”

“What y-you want i-is just... E-Evil!”

“You’re a  _ fool _ , Romana. You don’t know anything about what I want and it’s pathetic to think you do.”

She put her hands to her head. “Y-You won’t listen to  _ reason! _ ”

“What? Because you want  _ rationality? _ Get a grip, Romana - rationality is a  _ crux. _ You’ve lived your whole pathetic life clinging to whatever sounds rational, and where has it gotten you?”

“I-It’s  _ necessary... _ ”

“It’s a weakness and it’ll only ever hold you back. I could bring this Lab to  _ greatness. _ Isn’t that what you truly want?”

Romana opened her mouth to respond but nothing came. Coyle... Had a point.

“I  _ want _ to compromise with you, Romana. But you need to find what’s  _ right _ \- not what’s ‘polite’.”

The air grew still around her. Finally Coyle’s point of view began to ring true for her - what  _ had _ rationality done for her? 34 years of being walked all over, never standing up for herself because who  _ knows _ what could happen. Why did she fear that uncertainty so much? It held her back like nothing else ever could.

Coyle might be questionable, but she was certainly efficient. She got things done without dawdling, dealt with matters as they came, and  _ took _ respect when she wasn’t being given it. Romana wanted to be like her  _ so _ desperately, but she still feared so much what Coyle could become.  _ How _ could Romana keep her in check without the crux of rationality just holding them back?

A smash, though muffled through the walls, could be heard coming from a nearby room. The armed men must be searching for confidential documents...  _ God _ how it pained her to see her ARMS Lab being torn apart like this, while she stood helplessly locked away in a restroom. Through all the faults with her staff and the budget, she really truly loved this place.

...Ah. And there it was.

“...Coyle.” Romana calmly addressed the shattered mirror. “I want to make a compromise.”


	7. [TITLE REDACTED]

“I’m listening.” Came the voice in her head.

“I only want one thing.” Romana relented. “...The focus is on ARMS.  _ Always. _ Everything we do, everything we strive for... It’s for the betterment of ARMS research and the ARMS Lab.”

“I can agree to that.”

Romana turned her head down quietly. “Then that’s all I want. Thank you.” She took a step back from the mirror and shut her eyes.

“Ready when you are.” Mz. Coyle spoke for the final time.

Dr. Tessa Romana relaxed her shoulders and took a long, slow, and deep inhale. Her whole body began to tingle, starting down at her toes and then steadily rising, before slowing toward her head. Her thoughts cleared for the first time in decades and she finally found herself reaching peace, just as a small zap ran through her brain.

And just like that? Dr. Tessa Romana died.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The two men in the main office stood boredly as they slowly paced their eyes around the room, just keeping an eye out for any sudden movements or changes in their surroundings. The one on the other end of the room drummed his fingers slowly on the barrel jacket of his gun, while the one stood by the door of the restroom checked the time on his watch.

As his arm came back down and his eyes shot back forward, he was suddenly pelted in the back by a large wooden door slamming into him, kicked straight off its hinges. 

The man fell forward, limp on the floor with the door laid over him, as the other man’s eyes widened at the sudden fright. He quickly turned his attention to the now empty archway, where the figure of a woman stood. 

“Boy,” The woman spoke with a confident smile. “ _ You better run for your life. _ ”

He quickly struck his gun forward, aiming squarely for the woman’s chest. “GET ON THE GROUND!” The man ordered loudly.

“Not a chance.” She replied, beginning to walk forward.

The man opened fire, laying out a barrage of bullets toward the figure before him, who seemed to dismiss each of them in turn with her ARMS folded producing a shining blue shield in front of her. He took his finger off the trigger for a split moment, and in that opportunity the woman swung her fist at him in a large and curved arc, travelling around the room before meeting full-force with his cheek and sending him straight to the floor.

But the commotion in here had not gone unheard by the others and a rush of footsteps was approaching the room at a quickening pace. The woman raised an ARM upward and waited, and as the men hurriedly reentered the main office and trained their guns on her they found their aims suddenly swayed by the harsh crash of a metal figure smashing straight through the floorboards of the room they stood in.

They watched in awe as the thing suddenly swung onto the woman’s head, causing her to wobble for a second, before she turned to face them with the figure now fastened to her like a second skull. It was a jagged metallic helmet of sorts with large red headlights beaming from over her eyes. Her purple lips, still visible from beneath the helmet’s cut-off, cocked into a grin.

One of the men quickly snapped back to reality and began to open fire on her, though his bullets were once again caught by the woman’s ARMS folding over each other in a shield. From behind her head a small coiled ARM uncurled, hanging over her like a scorpion’s tail - the tip of which bearing resemblance to something of a face. That face then trained on the group of men before her and unleashed some sort of red fireball, colliding with the man who had been firing at her and sending him back in a mighty explosion.

With her personal space now free of incoming bullets, the woman dashed forward and swung an ARM out over to the knocked-out chair she had kicked through, grabbing it by the handle and swinging it at the remaining men. Each of them dashed for cover, hurriedly tucking away behind whatever desks were still upright.

A particularly brave one of them swung his body over a desk and quickly aimed for the woman, but just as he caught her in his sights she vanished out of thin air. He watched in awe as the empty room before him remained target-less, until a fist suddenly smacked down to the back of his head from behind him where she had reappeared. A nearby man made a dash for her, hoping to hit her with the butt of his gun before she could have a chance to respond - but he was met by a small ARM uncurling from her shoulder pelting him in the gut with with severe strength, causing him to fall flat to the floor, without the need for her to turn around at all.

One by one she took them out - punching teeth out of them with a closed fist, throwing them into one another, kicking desks into them as they tried to hide... Any time they tried to shoot at her  they simply found their bullets wasted on a shield conjured from folded ARMS, and then the scorpion tail of her headpiece would blast them into concussion.

In the end, only one man was left in a sea of KO’d tough guys and an unstoppable force in a lab coat. He wiped the sweat from his face and quickly tried to fire again, but found his gun clicking in emptiness. She slowly extended her ARMS out and pulled the man toward her in a grab, holding him by the collar of his shirt.

As his legs dangled in front of her fruitlessly, the woman recognised his face - it was the man from the parking lot who had been snooping for security information. He stammered for breath, his eyes shaking in fear. “W-Who  _ are _ you?!”

The purple lips bordered by metal plating once again curved into a grin. Her voice came with a tinge of robotic overlay, as if the headpiece was answering alongside her in cooperation. “I’m  **_Dr._ ** _ Coyle. _ ” With that, she threw the man back and sent him  _ through the wall _ , leaving him limp among the dusty bricks.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Professor Ian Marrow arrived at the ARMS Lab later that morning, only to find several police cars parked out the front and several ARMS Lab staff members dotting the parking lot, each giving reports on the trailing and surveillance of the past few weeks to the officers present. He entered the building and progressed into the main office, which was still in a heavy mess from the earlier incident, where he found his boss in her office, feet up on the desk and coffee in her hand.

“Ah, Marrow!” She chimed, spotting him through the door she had kept open. “I take it you don’t like my redecorating? All those desks were so  _ boring. _ I’m thinking big ol’ tubes will be the next hit craze. We’ll get some installed soon.”

Marrow carefully stepped over the hole in the floor the OLH Mrk. 1 had left. “What...  _ Happened _ here?”

Dr. Coyle flicked through the notebook she had been reading. “Had about 12 armed idiots break in last night. Took care of ‘em, though.”

“...All by yourself??” He stammered, his mouth open in disbelief.

“Yup.” She confirmed nonchalantly.

Professor Barbara Chew entered quickly and rushed a coffee mug over to her boss. “Your coffee, Dr. Coyle!” She smiled, before noticing Marrow beside her. She gave a quick nudge to him and hushed her voice. “It’s  _ Dr. _ Coyle, now.”

He nodded slowly, still processing all of this.

“Thanks, Chew.” Coyle smiled, sipping her coffee. “I’d tell ya to take a seat, Marrow, but I think I threw yours into some guy’s jaw. I’m having the others set up some temporary desks in the labs for now, so go find a place to sit.”

“Uhhh... Alright.” Marrow nodded slowly, but he didn’t move.”

Coyle raised an eyebrow.

“Um... My brother is getting married in two weeks? S-So I, uhh...  I-I can’t really miss that, so I’d need to take... Uhh...”

“Ah! Say no more~” Coyle nodded. “You can’t miss your brother’s wedding, after all.”

“S-So I can have time off...?” He asked with hope.

“In a sense.” She shrugged. “I mean  _ you’re fired _ sooooo...” She leant back on her chair, putting her hands up in the air drastically. “I’d tell ya to pack your stuff but you might have to dig it up from the rubble first!”

Marrow stared emptily at her, knowing full well he’d get nowhere trying to argue with her decision.

Coyle hopped to her feet. “Chew! Check in with the force - make sure they’ve got everythin’ they need. Have  _ Ian _ escorted off the premises if he does not leave on his own accord, have the office staff pool into Labs A-1 through B-9 effectively, and have my next coffee sent to Lab C-6. I’ve got some things I need to tie up still.” She dropped the notebook she had been reading into a box on her desk and took it with her as she left.

Chew, still in shock from Marrow’s firing, quickly followed up with a “Y-Yes ma’am!” and hurried on her way.

_ My name is Doctor Coyle. I am the equilibrium between Doctor Tessa Romana and ‘Mz. Coyle’, two polar sides of my personality. I am now the head of the ARMS Lab and I intend full well to bring us to a new age of greatness. _

The green haired scientists sat with her legs folded on the desk of Lab C-6 as she scribbled her last entry into the journal on her lap.

_ I am giving my final statement on this project simply for the peace of mind it may give to whatever lingering parts of my predecessors still potentially live in the back of my head. This project has been long and complicated and resulted in many fascinating developments. No other project has ever rivaled this one in sheer extrodiance. _

_ However, it is my decision now that this experiment will  _ _ never _ _ be carried out again. _

_ The gift of ARMS is and should always be a gift. My exception to that rule was carried out through desperation larger and greater than the lack of my ARMS. A base insecurity that lead me to irrationally perform a dangerous procedure on myself that should  _ _ not _ _ have been attempted. As I read back on it I can only say that I, sound in mind I am now, would never have gone ahead with it. The risk was simply far too great and the consequence of failure too drastic. _

_ In time, sure, I don’t doubt I could refine the process further and better the odds of survival. But those who’s lust for ARMS outweighs the potential risks involved in the process simply aren’t right for the gift of ARMS. It is not bought. It is not earned. It’s to be left up to nature, as it should be. _

_...That’s my reasoning, at least. Should I be asked. _

_ My name is Doctor Coyle. And I hope to be what both of you wanted. _

_ \- Dr. C _

Dr. Coyle placed the Project COYLE journal back into box she had carried from her office, laying it atop the recipe notes for the solution she had taken, the tape recorder she had used to record her mid-process thoughts, and her old locket. She struck a match and dropped it into the box, watching as it all burned to a cinder before her eyes. All memory of it washed away in ashes - just as it should be.

A knock came on the door just a moment later. “Hm?”

The door parted slightly and Professor Chew stuck her head through. “S-Sorry to bother you, Dr. Coyle, but I believe we have a delivery for you...?”

“Ah!” Coyle smiled, getting to her feet and taking the parcel from Chew. She thanked her for bringing it to her, then sat back down at her desk and opened it.

Within the parcel was a mask from the mask-printing and manufacturing floor a few stories above - deep black with jagged purple spikes leading to the face.

Dr. Coyle smiled.


	8. Epilogue

Mechanica brought a coffee to Dr. Coyle’s office and set it down right in front of her, with the handle turned to where she could grab it.

“Ah!” She smiled. “You’re an  _ angel! _ Have I ever told you that?”

“I think so...” Mechanica smiled nervously. “Um... Dr. Coyle, could I... Uhh...”

“Hm?” Coyle squinted at her as she sipped on her coffee.

“I just... Um...” The young girl scratched at the back of her head. “I have a... _ Request... _ ”

Coyle sighed. “ _ Once again, I just do not have time to go to school science fair. _ ”

“N-No, not that...” Mechanica bit her lip. “Um... You... You  _ gave _ yourself ARMS, r-right?”

“Yes.” She squinted back again.

“...” It seemed difficult for Mechanica to ask, but she took a deep breath and forced it out. “C-Could you give  _ me _ ARMS? P-Please...?” She held her hands clasped together, beggingly.

Coyle grimaced, giving a short whimper. “Sweetie, you don’t  _ need _ ARMS...”

“I-I knowwww, I know I’m... ‘Perfect the way I am’...” She sighed as she quoted her boss. “B-But I’d just be able to do so much more if I had ARMS! A-And I could help around the Lab more, and I could-”

“Mechanica.” Coyle sighed.

Mechanica froze - it was rare for Coyle to user name so seriously, after all.

“Look, I have a lot of regrets over my past. There’s a lot I’m really not happy looking back on and I made a lot of really stupid mistakes. You’re better than that.”

“But-”

“You’re an incredible young girl with a bright future. Don’t let your want for ARMS get in the way of that. Your day will come.”

“And if it doesn’t...?” She looked sullen and hopeless, like the light in her hope had just been blown out.

“Then you will live your whole life as proof you don’t need ARMS to be successful, loved, and respected.” Coyle smiled softly at her, in an almost touching way. Even still, Mechanica didn’t seem too convinced...

Coyle looked down at her coffee. She turned to the nearby potted plant and grabbed a handful of dirt. After a quick swig of her coffee to make a little more room in the cup, she put the dirt in and mixed it around.

Mechanica looked on in confusion, as Coyle then pinched some Helix-goo off of her boot and added it to the mix. She then opened a small salt packet from her lunch condiment drawer and added it in too.

She put the concoction to her lips and took a big gulp. “Yick.” She mumbled as a grimace formed on her face. She then extended the cup to Mechanica. “Take a sip.”

“W-Why...?” She replied nervously.

“It’ll make sense after.”

Mechanica didn’t really want to, but she begrudgingly agreed to it. She took the cup in her hands and carefully dipped her tongue into the- “BLECK!” She gasped. “EW EW EW EW EW!!” Her face scrunched together as she carefully put the cup back on the desk, before fanning her mouth.

“If you can’t stomach that you’d  _ definitely  _ fail step one of the process.” Coyle sighed, leaning back on her chair.

Mechanica groaned loudly as her tongue continued to writhe. “Okay...” She sighed, her eyes a little watery. “I guess not having ARMS isn’t  _ THAT _ bad, then...”

“Pfffffffffft.” Coyle laughed, before having Mechanica prepare her a new coffee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so concludes another ARMS fic! Doing an origin story for Coyle was pretty fun and it was nice to get away from the 'present' for a little while. Maybe we'll look into Ribbon Girl and Min Min's past some time in 2019...
> 
> But for 2018 there's still one more fic comin' up on Christmas Eve (unless I get really delayed or something, eek)! So I hope you'll all join me again for that~
> 
> \- Melty M.


End file.
